The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - 2017
by JasminSky
Summary: The collection of submissions for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competiton 2017 (Beater 2 of the Caerphilly Catapults). It is an assortment of oneshots with different prompts that are stated at the beginning of each chapter.
1. The girl who changed everything

NOTP of Beater 1: Draco/Hermione

Prompts:

(word) sky blue

(quote) The problem with people is they forget that most of the time it's the small things that count – Theodore Finch, All the Bright Places

* * *

 **The girl who changed everything**

It was two days before the train was due back to London, carrying the children currently residing within the castle of Hogwarts back to their families and back right into the middle of a war. Ever since the happenings at the Ministry of Magic a few days ago the war was taking up speed, rigorousness and more often than not families, and people not belonging to the Dark Lord were attacked and brutally murdered. It was a good question just how many of the students not in seventh year would return for the next year or for how long the ones graduating from school would survive.

Well, that was except those who would enter the Dark Lord's service.

That last question was ghosting through the mind of Draco Malfoy at just that moment. He was sitting on a slope leading down to the Black Lake, absently staring onto the mirror like surface. In two days, he finished his fifth school year, in two days he would return back home and in two days his entire life would change. Oh yes, he knew very well what would await him when he returned home, the Dark Mark. From what his father had told him in the last weeks, the Dark Lord had a mission for him.

But he didn't want to. He didn't want to be marked like kettle, he didn't want to fight for the man that ripped his family apart by staying at their home, he didn't want to have the Cruciatus Curse thrown his way for no reason at all and most definitely, he didn't want to fight Harry Potter and his group of friends.

Sure, he and Harry always seem to fight with each other but that was only what others saw. In reality they cared for each other, wanted to make sure the respective other was well and safe. Take the incident with the dragon in first year for example, he hadn't outed them because he wanted them punished or because he got enjoyment out of it. No, he had wanted them safe and he knew how tricky dragons could be so he informed McGonagall about it, but what did the bloody woman do? Send them into the forbidden forest where the shade of the Dark Lord had been lingering.

Then second year…he had sent Dobby to Harry in order to warn him that Hogwarts was unsafe but no he had to play the hero again.

He could go on and on like that for over the last five years but that didn't change anything, he didn't want to take the Dark Mark but there was no way of avoiding it, even his godfather couldn't help him.

Draco sat at the lake so lost in his depressing thoughts that he didn't notice that someone approached him and sat down right next to him.

"What are you worrying about?" a female voice ripped him out of his musing.

Blinking a few times to get back to reality, he looked at the person sitting right next to him. It was Hermione Granger; she wore a sky blue dress that hugged her frame just in the right places. Her hair was bound back at the nape of her neck and then pinned up to a lose bun.

Draco had to swallow hard; the girl next to him was stunning. He had already thought her gorgeous back in fourth year during the yule ball when she had appeared with Victor Krum but the problem was that she was a muggle-born. She was someone whom he had already called a mudblood on several occasions, only to cover up his own feelings, hiding them behind scorn and hatred. However, he liked her very much actually…dare he say it…loved her.

Hermione was intelligent and wanted to learn. Sure sometimes she could be narrow-minded when it came to certain ways of their ways but he somehow had the feeling it was only because she didn't know any better.

She could also be very fierce in defending her believes. Take for example S.P.E.W. not that he agreed with it far from it because house-elves needed a wizard to bond to in order to survive and sustain their magic but Hermione fought for her believes that house-elves should be treated like equals. She had fire and he had watched her many times during arguments.

Nevertheless, the problem was that she was a muggle-born and he was a Malfoy, they simply couldn't be together no matter what. How would it look like? A Malfoy married to a muggle-born…he would be disowned for even thinking of such.

No, he needed to keep his distance to her because not only they could never be together but also to keep her safe, he would never be able to look at himself should anything happen to her because of him. Not to mention that she probably didn't even feel the same way he did.

"What do you want, Granger?" he therefor snapped.

"I can see that you're deeply troubled about something. Tell me, maybe I can help," she replied with a smile towards the blond.

Draco just stared at her. "As if a mudblood could help me in any way," he snapped though to his utter confusion she didn't look hurt upon his insult, no she started to snicker. "Have you hit your head, Granger?"

Hermione snickered again and Draco had to admit that he liked the sound of it, he want it to last.

"Draco, you can insult me all you like but we both know that it isn't how you truly feel," Hermione replied with a knowing smirk.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Draco huffed turning his head away so that she wouldn't see his slight blushing. Oh no, she was right that was not how he was feeling but the problem was that he couldn't show his true feelings towards her.

However, what he hadn't considered was the boldness of Gryffindors, so he didn't expect Hermione to place a hand on his check and turning his head back towards her. Once he looked at her, she looked deep into his eyes before she leaned forwards and kissed him. At first he was too stunned to react in any way but quickly all his resistance melted away and with it all his masks. Leaning into the kiss and returning it with all he had, he placed a hand in the girl's neck to pull her even closer. Only when the need for air became too much they pulled away.

"How did you know?" he asked breathless.

"The problem with people is they forget that most of the time it's the small things that count. All the little things you did to help Harry, me and in extension even Ron, sure you always banter with Harry but that is only a front you put up for others, isn't it?" she asked with a smile leaning back to be able to look at him properly.

Draco could only stare at her; he had thought that his mask had been perfect to the outside. However, here sat a girl that obviously could read him like an open book, a girl that seemingly had the same feelings for him as he had for her. All he could do was leaning forward and kissing her again. The kiss continued for a few moments when they both heard someone gasp behind them. Jerking away from each other, they turned around seeing Weasley standing a few feet away with wide eyes his face as red as his hair.

"Hermione, you let yourself be kissed by one of those slimy snakes, not to mention Malfoy?!" Ron snarled.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, whom I kiss and whom not is none of your business," she snapped back. "I'm not your girlfriend and I never will be."

That however seemed to edge the redhead further on. "I'll tell Harry all about it. Let's see how you like that," he shouted before he stormed off towards the castle.

Hermione only shrugged before she turned back around to the lake.

"Are you not worried?" Draco tentatively asked.

"What? That he tells Harry? As I know Harry he will only shrug and be happy for me. As for you…who will believe him?" she snickered. Oh yes, Ron will be in for one hell of a surprise. "Harry knows as well as I do that your rivalry is only a front," she added upon seeing Draco's shocked face.

"I really wonder how he had managed to get into Gryffindor," Draco shook his head.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Hermione smirked. "However, I didn't want to talk about Harry, I wanted to know what has you so worried."

Draco sighed letting himself falling back into the grass watching the clouds passing by. "The holidays, did you know that the Dark Lord is staying at our manor?" Hermione shook her head. "I'm supposed to take the Dark Mark this summer because the Dark Lord has a mission for me for our sixth year," he didn't know why he confessed all that but it felt good talking about all his worries.

"And you don't want to?"

"I don't want to," he acknowledged looking down at his hands.

Hermione laughed lightly. "Come on, let's get inside and find a solution to your problem," she said standing up before she hold out his hand towards him.

Looking up at her, he made a decision that should change his life from then on. He grabbed her hand and let himself be pulled up before he followed her towards the castle.

"Yeah let's," he muttered with a smile, suddenly life didn't seem so dour anymore and he swore to himself that he would find a way not only to avoid taking the mark but also to keep the beautiful young lady that was currently walking in front of him. Yes, that sounded like a plan.


	2. The fraternisation of enemies

Setting: Spinners End

Prompts:

(word) noble

(word) past

(quote) Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Hate me because I'm beautiful, smart and rich. — Calvin Keegan

* * *

 **The fraternisation of enemies**

Harry was pissed. It was the last day before the summer holidays after his fifth year and he just came from a meeting with the illustrious headmaster Albus too-many-bloody-names Dumbledore. This man must be completely bonkers. He really said that he would have to stay with Snape over the holidays. With Snape!

Okay, if he was being honest, he was less bothered by the idea of staying with Snape of all people than he was by how Dumbledore seemed to be of the firm opinion that he could just order him around and he would comply. What did the old fool think?

 _I have decided that it would be safer for you to stay with Professor Snape._

 _I don't give two Knuts that you just lost your godfather or about what you might think._

 _I decide what is good for you and what not._

 _I have decided that you have to sacrifice everything for the noble cause of the "Greater Good"._

 _I am the great and good Albus bloody Dumbledore and you're just an insignificant weapon that has to listen to what I say._

Dumbledore might not have said that aloud but it was what clearly shone through in their conversation…or more of a monologue the oh so great headmaster held. Harry had only sat there and listened to what idiotic crap the man spouted rather than replying in any way because he knew very well that should he have opened his mouth he would have given the man a piece of his mind and he really doubted that that would have been received well.

Interestingly Snape hadn't said anything to it too. The Potions Master had only stood there and the only time he had spoken up was to give his consent to Harry staying with him over the holidays at the man's own house nonetheless. Harry would have thought that the man would fight it tooth and nails but that hadn't been the case but he probably knew that it would have been in vain. Though Harry really wondered how the man lived.

However, there was one major problem with him staying at the man's home; he would have to stay with him for two month closely together without barely any way to avoid him. A man on whom he, would he be honest had a major crush on, an obviously unrequited one.

Oh yes, these holidays would be pure torture for Harry; of that he was sure.

* * *

It was two weeks into the summer holidays now and Harry settled in quite well at Spinner's End. Surprisingly the home of Severus Snape was very cosy and nothing like he had expected it to be. On the other hand, Harry didn't know what exactly it was what he had expected but it was certainly not that.

Snape's home had a nice living room with a couch and two armchairs around a fireplace and a few shelves with books in it. Next to it was a small but full furnished kitchen with an adjoining potions lab. On the first floor then was the man's and his bedrooms, nothing extravagant but it was enough to feel at home and it was far better than Harry's room at the Dursleys, that was for sure. Here he also was allowed to do what he wanted to do during the day as long as he didn't disturb Snape - especially when the man was brewing.

The only thing he needed to do was cooking for them but that wasn't because Snape demanded it of him but because Harry himself had decided to take it upon himself. Funny thing was that while Snape absolutely loved brewing he loathed cooking with the same passion and after the first evening of having to "endure" Snape's cooking Harry declared that he would cook the meals from now on for the remainder of the holidays.

Over the two weeks Harry stayed with the normally dour man now, they settled into a routine. Harry would be up even before Snape, which was quite an achievement since the man was up at six in the morning. After a quick shower, Harry would then first set up the strong coffee he got to know Snape loved before he started making breakfast. About half past six, Snape then would come down after having a shower himself greeted by a mug of the steaming hot brew, black, as he liked it.

Harry would then plate the breakfast and they would share the Prophet between them silently reading their part while eating. Only once Snape had his second mug of coffee they would start discussing things ranging from what they read to whatever else came to their mind.

After the first morning they had spent that way Harry had been shocked speechless. He had pinched himself thinking that it all was a dream but he really had a civil conversation with the man that normally hated his guts. It had been on the third day that he finally cornered the man.

At first Snape had wanted to get out of it by stating that since they had to stay the entire summer together it would hardly be a good idea to make it harder than it already was but Harry had the feeling that this was only half of the truth. Knowing what he did after five years in which he now knew the Potions Master and especially after that incident with the Pensieve Harry had decided that he would have to wait and see whether he wouldn't be able to worm the answer he was looking for out of the man some other way. Yes, the hat had been right when claiming that Slytherin would have been the better house for him.

However, now one and a half week later he still hadn't gotten any further but he wasn't overly concerned about it, his opportunity would come. Right now he was sitting in the living room on the couch, his legs tucked beneath him and a good book to read that he had lend from Snape's shelf. Snape himself currently was in his lab brewing some potion ever since lunch, which had been two hours ago.

Harry was just on the verge of turning the page when suddenly the Floo flared to life and spat out a certain blond boy Harry knew only too well.

"Potter? What are _you_ doing here?" the blond sneered.

"Hello Malfoy, blame Dumb-as-a-door," Harry curtly replied before going back to the book he was reading.

"You…what?" Draco stared at Harry in disbelieve and confusion.

Harry sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be left in peace he marked the page he was currently on with a piece of parchment before putting the book down.

"Mr. Certainly-not-Merlin-reincarnated thought that it would be far better and safer for me to stay with Snape," he shrugged in reply.

Draco on the other hand ended up in a coughing fit over the names Harry gave Dumbledore. "Did you, the golden Gryffindork boy and Dumbledore's good little pet just give him derogatory names, twice?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry smirked.

"Of course you don't and the next thing you tell me is that you want to marry the Dark Lord, Potthead," Draco deadpanned.

"Ewww, Draco!" he exclaimed a shudder shaking him. "No thank you very much. I mean have you seen him lately? Why would I want to marry that snake face? Despite that he isn't my type."

"And what is your type?" Draco now asked in genuine curiosity wondering since when he could have a civil conversation with him without them going at each other's throat or why he wasn't even put out that Harry had used his first name without his consent.

"Hmmm, dark, mysterious and not without a wicked sense of humour," Harry said with a thoughtful expression before he shrugged. "However, it doesn't matter because said person would never reciprocate my feelings. Anyway what are you doing here?"

"Uncle Sev is my godfather," Draco simply stated but Harry notice a slight blush tinting Draco's cheeks.

Harry's eyes went wide when he thought about what that might mean. "Could it be that you have a crush on him?" he teased the blond.

Draco started to splutter. "Certainly not," he retorted throwing a fearful glance towards the door not wanting the man to hear that.

Harry seeing the other boy's behaviour started to snicker. "Your behaviour tells me something completely different," he smirked.

"You can talk…as if you are any better," he said folding his arms over his chest sulking though nonetheless thinking that it was untrue what he just spouted in retaliation until he saw Harry blushing heavily. "Oh Merlin, you do," he breathed unfolding his arms again heavily sitting down on the couch next to Harry in shock.

Harry on the other hand groaned burrowing his face in his hands in embarrassment hating that he blushed that easily or that he was a hormonal teenager for that matter.

"Don't worry I'm no competition for you," he finally said.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Draco asked in utter disbelieve.

"What? Sure, you can be a whiney git from time to time but you're a Slytherin who has manners, knows all that pure-blood stuff…you're beautiful," Harry sighed wistfully.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Hate me because I'm beautiful, smart and rich."

They both stared at each other before both broke out in heavy laugher.

"You…you didn't just say that?!" Harry said once he calmed down again. "No but seriously all Snape will ever see in me is my father. Despite that have you seen how he watches you?"

Now Draco snorted. "I'm his godson of course he watches me and maybe he saw your father in you at the beginning but certainly not anymore…he's worried about you, Harry. He all but ordered me to keep an eye on you the summer before our second year, who do you think sent Dobby to you?" he elaborated upon Harry's disbelieving stare that only intensified at the end.

Harry looked down at his hands in his lap thinking through what he had learned ever since Draco stepped out of the floo. Not only had the other boy hinted that Snape might see more in him than a carbon copy of his father, which might actually explain the civility the man had treated him with the last two weeks, but he also learned that the other boy also felt more for the man.

That was when an idea occurred to him, an idea so utterly insane that it was brilliant in his opinion though he had to wonder…did that mean that he also felt more for Draco other than a possible friendship?

Looking at the blond boy, he had to admit that everything he said to describe Snape with also fitted Draco, he was dark, mysterious if he put his mind to it and he had a humour Harry liked even if it was aimed at him or more likely Ron. Draco also was beautiful, stunningly so. With each passing thought Harry began to realize that yes it might not only be Snape he felt more for and with each passing thought his grin broadened.

"Harry…," Draco tentatively spoke up. "No offense but you're creeping me out."

Harry chuckled darkly. "True, in the past I have shot down your friendship but the last few minutes made me realize just how much of an idiot I have been to do so," he spoke up watching Draco cocking his head. "I just thought…if you're open to it there might be a possibility that we both could get what we want," he told Draco this time holding out a hand of friendship and possibly more of his own. "I mean I have no idea how he would react to it or whether or not it would work out but at least we could try and see where it leads us and who knows…."

Draco stared at him dumbstruck. Harry hadn't just suggested what he thought the boy had, had he? Did that mean that Harry felt more for him, dare he say loved him? And why didn't that thought disgust him like it should, on the contrary left him excited about the prospect? Was that meaning that he was open to sharing? Suddenly images flittered through his mind, fantasies he had had about his godfather but now a third person added to them…Harry.

"Bloody Gryffindors," he moaned closing his eyes and letting his head sink back against the backrest of the couch he was sitting on, staying that way for a moment before he opened them again and looked at Harry who grinned at him. Wondering whether he had gone insane he grabbed Harry's hand and shook it.

"Only one left to convince," Harry snickered.

Both Draco and Harry looked at each other before they both looked towards the door both wearing a grin that could rival that of the Weasley twins before an especially good prank. In both their minds, they were sure that Severus Snape would not know what hit him.

* * *

Out in the corridor right next to the door and out of the view from those within the room leaned Severus Snape against the wall, speechless about what he just witnessed. He had left his potions lab the second his wards had alerted him that a visitor arrived via Floo but he had stopped outside the living room when he became aware that it was his godson, curious what would happen between him and Harry. Now it seemed to him that it had been a good idea.

Both boys had a crush on him and not only that they wanted to act upon it!

However, that wasn't even the most insane thing about it. No, what was even more insane was that he wasn't even disgusted about the thought or at least averse to it. They were children for Merlin's sake, his students and not even of age! One of them was even his own godson.

If he would be honest, he would have to admit that he had no idea what to do about the situation. On the one hand he was very well aware that this was wrong on so many levels that he shouldn't even contemplate it but on the other hand the thought of having not only one but two so willing lovers…he had to think about the most disgusting ingredients to shoot down that thought.

He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall behind him. That was when another thought occurred to him. Harry and Draco really thought that they could out-Slytherin him. Now that was a thought he could laugh about. If they really thought that they could get one over him, they were sorely mistaken. He might not know what to do about the entire situation for now but one thing was for sure… _they_ wouldn't know what hit them.


	3. Are you there, Tom?

The Daily Prophet Competition – Time travel (571 words)

Your task this fortnight will be to write a short story (of between 500–600 words) focusing on the scene that you would change. Show us what happened instead (whilst remaining below M rated).

* * *

Are you there, Tom?

Luna Lovegood was aimlessly wandering the empty halls of Hogwarts one afternoon her dreamy smile firmly in place. Everyone else was hiding away in their common rooms fearing that they would come face to face with the heir of Slytherin and whatever was petrifying the students, but Luna didn't fear that, the Wrackspurts were far more dangerous in her opinion. Humming lowly under her breath, she turned a corner finding herself in the girl's bathroom on the second floor. Smiling she entered the bathroom already hearing the wailing of the residing ghost Myrtle.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked in a dreamy voice.

"Someone threw a book at me…," the ghost sniffed floating over to where Luna was standing. Myrtle liked Luna unlike other students, maybe except Harry Potter. Oh, she wouldn't mind sharing her bathroom with him.

"That is not nice of that person," Luna replied walking over to where the book was lying in the water carefully picking it up. "I'll take it with me," she smiled and with that left the bathroom and went back to her common room.

Once there she took a closer look at the book finding a name written in gold on the back, _Tom Marvolo Riddle_. Her smile widened while she opened the book, picked up a quill and started to write into it.

 _Hello Tom,_ she watched how her writing stayed on the page for a moment before it vanished but no reply came. _No problem…I'm used to people ignoring me. You know the Wrackspurts are very active here at Hogwarts making everyone fuzzy._

She paused briefly waiting for her script to vanish.

 _Especially the Headmaster, he is truly infested with them, they make him totally fuzzy in his brain. But that is nothing compared to the Blibbering Humdinger. They are nasty; let you make strange and stupid things. I think Harry has a few of them around with how he attracts trouble. You would think that he would try to get rid of them but no…I wonder what trouble they drag him into this year._

She sighed before she hummed lowly and eerie tune again. _Or the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and the Gulping Plimpys. The first lives in Sweden you know, they love the cold weather though we never managed to find one until now but we will never doubt that._

 _Did I mention the Dabberblimps? Those live in lakes such as the Black Lake here at Hogwarts. I hope that one day the merpeople help me find them, they are extremely shy and even harder to find...the creatures not the merpeople. But they are cute…with their big round eyes and their plushy bodies._

She snickered lowly upon the thought of the Dabberblimps.

 _Oh did you know? Cornelius Fudge owns an Umgubular Slashkilter. He should be extremely careful they can be vicious and they love the flesh of politicians, really dangerous creatures, nothing compared to the Exploding Snabberwitches though._

When Luna again paused shortly to sort through her thoughts suddenly black smoke burst from the pages of the book, shrieking in a high pitch before it vanished completely. Luna looked at the place the smoke was mere seconds ago blinking a few times.

"What a pity and he was such a nice bloke," she said with a wistful smile. "And a good listener too."

Well, at least she now had a new sketchbook, which she instantly used to draw in.


	4. The evil Bunny Farm of Death

Truth or dare: **Write about a Truth that is found by the next generation** OR write about a Dare that is carried out by the next generation.

Prompts:

(dialogue) "You don't have a choice. It's do or die."

(animal) rabbit

* * *

The evil Bunny Farm of Death – 1.696 words

It was one day into the second year of schooling at Hogwarts when Scorpius rushed into Albus' room in the Slytherin dorms.

"Albus," he exclaimed excitedly. "Look at what I found over the summer holidays at my house," he said holding out a vial in which a silver liquid swirled around. Both knew that it was a memory. "It was hidden in a bookshelf."

The vial had no visible sign to what memory exactly it contained and also none on whom it could belong to. So the only thing the two boys knew for certain about the memory was that they would need a Pensieve to view it. But Pensieves were rare and extremely expensive so the two boys would have to be extremely lucky to find one.

"Do you know where we can get a Pensieve, I want to know what the memory contains!" Scorpius asked, his eagerness barely hidden.

Albus hummed lowly. "Perhaps the Room of Requirements can provide us with one," he mused.

In lieu of an answer Scorpius just grabbed Albus' wrist and yanked him out of his room dragging him through the common room and out into the halls of Hogwarts. Rushing up the staircases they soon reached the seventh floor and quickly went to stand in front of the painting showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. Scorpius walked up and down the empty wall opposite of the painting three times until a door appeared.

Opening it he stepped in and saw a basin on a pedestal in the middle of the room; a Pensieve, exactly what he had requested from the room. He walked over to it and gently stroked the rim before he took the bottle he had placed back into his pocket, took out the stopper that kept the memory from getting out, and poured the contents into the basin. As soon as the liquid stilled, the face of a boy maybe two or three years older than them floated to the surface, however, neither of them recognized it. The boy had black hair slicked back, dark eyes and high cheekbones.

"Huh, I have no idea who that is. Do you want to watch the memory?" Scorpius questioned.

Albus nodded, he had no idea who that memory was about but the prospect of getting some powerful blackmailing material was too much to not consider watching the memory. Both placed a finger into the swirling liquid and were quickly sucked in.

* * *

The second they hit ground they looked around only to see that they were standing in the transfiguration classroom. It looked a bit different than they knew it but despite that it was the very same room.

Just at that moment, the door opened and admitted a horde of students that all looked to be around the age of fifteen that walked to their respective places to sit down before taking out their materials for the lesson. Looking around the room Scorpius' and Albus' gaze fell on one of the Slytherins, recognizing him as the one whose face had floated in the Pensieve before they entered it.

The boy was talking to one of his peers, and being the curious boys that they were they wanted to know what all this was about, the two friends walked closer so that they could hear what was spoken.

"Riddle, you know that you cannot do this in the open, what would the others think!?" the boy next to the one called Riddle questioned in a low voice.

"I don't care what others think. If they have the ridiculous notion that they can challenge me in such a way they are sorely mistaken," Riddle retorted angrily.

"As if I would let some mere Gryffindors show me up in such a way." He scoffed

Albus drew a sharp breath when he became aware of who the boy was.

"This is Tom Marvolo Riddle…the Dark Lord," he whispered in awe and a bit of fear, his father had told him a few stories about the young prodigy that walked down a very dangerous path and lost himself in the Dark Arts.

Albus knew that his father had only told him about it as a warning of what could happen if you meddled with things you had no idea about but it also taught him something else, that no matter how intelligent you were, one wrong choice could ruin your entire future.

"You cannot be serious!" Scorpius retorted looking at the boy in front of them with more interest, he had stumbled over a memory of the Dark Lord, though he wondered why it had been hidden in their library behind a book, and why it hadn't been found until now.

"Riddle…Tom; do you really want to be under even closer scrutiny from Dumbledore than you already are?" the other boy questioned.

"Dumbledore can go choke on a lemon drop," Tom sneered. "Now leave it alone, I've made up my mind."

It seemed to the two friends that the other boy wanted to add something when they could actually see Tom Riddle's magic lash out. In an instant every single student in the room vanished and instead on each place sat a cute little black bunny.

Tom suddenly sported an evil, bordering on maniacal, grin that sent shivers down Scorpius' and Albus' spines. The two friends looked at each other warily before they looked back at the scene in front of them. Riddle stood up and walked to the middle isle where he crouched down.

"Come here everyone," he ordered.

Some of the bunnies instantly moved towards him trembling with fear, with only the Slytherins knowing what the boy was capable of pushed forward, quite eager to follow the command lest they be punished further. The Ravenclaws they had that lesson together with on the other hand, were too frightened to move only sitting in their places, some even shuffling away from Tom.

"Come on! You don't have a choice. It's do or die," Tom who grew impatient called out.

"And don't think that Dumbledore will be able to turn you back, that was a Parsel spell so I'm the only one able to revert it," he added with a grin that spoke of nothing good to come.

Albus, who watched the remaining rabbits hurry over to where Riddle was crouched down shivered in fear himself of what the boy was capable of. Sure, his father had told him about it, but up until now, he hadn't really believed it. What powerful Dark Lord gets defeated by a child repeatedly? Not to mention by a toddler? So no, he had doubted that Tom Riddle had been very powerful but this memory proved otherwise.

That was when Dumbledore strode through the classroom door only to stop dead in his tracks. The man who looked so very different...younger compared to all the pictures they had seen of him; looked around stunned that Tom was kneeling in front of a horde of rabbits.

"Tom, what is with all those rabbits?" he asked wondering where all the other students were; they surely couldn't be the rabbits, could they?

"Bunnies, Professor…bunnies. I wanted to open up a farm of evil bunnies. The evil bunnies of death," Tom replied with a smirk.

"Why bunnies and not something like…say...goats?" Dumbledore questioned his eyes twinkling in amusement. "And where are the other students?"

"Because bunnies are cute little beings that have nothing evil about them hence why they are highly underestimated. Despite that, I don't have to remind you what a mess it was with your goat farm,"

Tom looked back at the bunnies in front of him who shuffled under his gaze before his smirk broadened. "And well, I do have to start my little bunny farm somewhere, don't I?"

Dumbledore gasped in shock. "So the rabbits…bunnies," he corrected when Tom's gaze fell upon him. "Are the students?"

"It was an accident! Do you really think that I would consciously transfigure someone into a bunny?" Tom shook his head in exasperation while he stood up from where he was kneeling. How could someone even contemplate that?

"I will have you expelled for this," Dumbledore exclaimed, inwardly smiling with glee because he finally had something he could use against the teen.

Tom on the other hand raised an eyebrow. "Goat farm," was all he said with a low chuckle.

That single line made Dumbledore blanch. It had been about half a year ago that one of his transfiguration demonstrations accidentally transfigured the entire class into goats. Fortunately, he had been able to keep it quiet by oblivating everyone, well everyone bar Riddle because the boy simply had too Occlumency shields that were too good for it to work. He had been able to convince the boy never to mention it though, but it seemed that he now would use it against him if necessary.

"Very well," Dumbledore grumbled under his breath.

Smiling as if he was the cat that caught the canary, Tom waved his wand to transfigure everyone back to normal.

"Your turn, since you're better at oblivating people. You don't want me to accidentally oblivate their entire life's worth of memories do you?" Riddle snickered while he walked around the pile of students ignoring the glares they sent him while Dumbledore went to oblivate everyone.

* * *

After the last scene finished, Albus and Scorpius were evicted from the Pensive. They looked at each other, confusion and shock the most prominent emotions displayed upon their faces.

"Did the Dark Lord really transfigure the entire class into black bunnies in a fit? Cute, little, sweet black bunnies?" Albus finally asked.

They looked at each other for a long moment before both broke out in heavy laugher.

"The better question is, did Dumbledore truly oblivate the entire thing from the students mind to keep it quiet? Not to mention another incident where he himself transfigured the class into goats?" Scorpius asked once he had calmed down enough.

"This…I don't even know what to say," Albus replied when an idea struck him. "We should send a copy of the memory to the Prophet," he said smirking.

Scorpius blinked a few times before he sported a similar smirk. "That is evil…and brilliant! I love it!"

After asking Hogwarts to make a copy of the memory, they bottled both before leaving the Room of Requirements and walking up to the Owlery.

The next day a huge article graced the front page "Death Eaters or the evil Bunny Farm of Death?".


	5. The King, the Djinn and a Potter?

Round 4

We have the Potters, we have the Malfoys, and we have the Weasleys. All wonderfully well known and lovable families. But what about the smaller, important, but less significant families? Let's not forget about them! For this round, you will be writing about those forgotten families! You can have multiple members, or just one; so long as the focus is around your given family (must have at least one canon character). – The Shacklebolts

Prompts:

(scenario) a character wins a large sum of money

(scenario) a character is granted three wishes

(phobia) heliophobia – fear of sunlight

A/N: Don't take this story too seriously and yes a few questions are unanswered but I want it that way…this story isn't about Harry Potter after all.

* * *

The King, the Djinn and…a Potter? – 2.991 words

Sultan Malik Qaydbarghi was sitting on his throne bored out of his mind. He had been sitting there for hours watching people come up to him to ask for a favour, or help or just bringing him gifts for help he had granted previously. Normally he had no problem with helping his people, he had an obligation towards them after all, and he prided himself of being a fair ruler. He didn't force his people to pay impossible taxes or punished them should they not be able to pay them on time. No, he gave them much leeway and his people loved him for it, as long as they remembered whom they owed their good and well protected life to then he was happy, which in turn made his people happy – a win/win situation.

However, today it was quite tedious listening to their problems and finding appropriate solutions. He hadn't slept very well the night before because of a nagging feeling that something would go terribly wrong today, hence his slightly bad mood, not that he would ever let his people suffer because of it; but it was evident that he wasn't at his best.

At the moment he was listening to two men bickering over a fence that was separating their respective pastures. One wanted to make it a bit higher because obviously one or two of his goats had jumped over it while he had found the odd goat from his neighbour in-between his own. The other man however saw no use in making the fence higher having no problem with the goats mixing.

Malik pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Quiet," he ordered and instantly both men complied. "So if I understood it right you want to make the fence higher because you don't want his goats in-between yours. Why?"

"It isn't that I have a problem with his goats being with mine, it's just that it's hard to determine what goat belongs to whom and the earnings from them," the first man explained.

"You have a somewhat equal amount of goats don't you?" Malik asked the second man.

"Yes," both men replied with a respectful nod.

"Then why don't you work together? Remove the fence completely and simply let the goats mingle. Simply divide the earnings you get from the goats, a half for each of you. That way you not only have removed the problem as such, but it also lessens the risk of inbreeding," the sultan reasoned.

The two men looked at their sovereign stunned before they looked at each other ideas forming in their head.

"That is a brilliant idea," one of them said. "We also could share the work so that we don't have to both work all the time."

The other man nodded in confirmation. "True, true, and maybe we'll see some kids soon," he agreed.

"Milord, we have to thank you. Again you showed us the right way with your wisdom," the first of the two said bowing respectfully which was copied by his neighbour.

Malik nodded with a smile, glad that this issue could be solved so easily before he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. If only all the problems of his people could be solved that easily…he still had no idea how to help the young girl that had a panic-stricken fear of the sunlight, as soon as she sees just one ray of sun she falls into a cathartic state and isn't responsive for hours, at night though she was a happy child that played around. His best healers were clueless on how to help the poor girl.

He was ripped from his musings, when one of his guards that were on duty today entered his reception room.

"Milord," the guard bowed respectfully and he motioned him to continue. "A delegation from Carthage has just arrived and seeks an audience with us."

That surprised Malik since he wasn't expecting any delegation from Carthage, naturally he was curious as to what they wanted.

"Very well," he said. "Let them enter but be on alert," he ordered, this might be a friendly visit but he was being careful nonetheless.

The guard nodded and opened the door for the Carthaginian delegation to enter. Malik watched five people who were dressed in colourful clothes enter and walk up to him.

"Welcome to the Lands of Erydnea. To what do I owe the honour of your visit?" he asked them politely.

"Sir, we are on our way to Pontus when we passed by this town. We have travelled a long way since sunrise and we humbly ask if you could supply us with a place to sleep for the night. Of course we would show our gratitude for your hospitality with this gift," the man that stood at the front of the little group said holding out what looked like an extravagantly designed oil lamp.

Malik gave a genuine smile and nodded curtly. "Who would I be to deny a group of well-travelled people a place to rest? My handmaiden will prepare rooms for you, and I hope that you'll give me the honour of joining me for dinner," he said when he became aware of how late it was.

"We have to thank you," the man who spoke earlier said and walked over to him to give him the oil lamp which Malik placed on a table next to him.

* * *

It was two days later and the delegation had long since left. Malik was once again sitting in his reception room just having sent away the last person who sought his advice that day, when his gaze fell on the oil lamp the delegation had gifted him with. Picking it up he traced the intricate pattern that adorned the surface with his fingers when suddenly smoke billowed out of the opening for the wick. His first reaction was to throw the object away from him in case that it might hurt him, but he didn't, curious to see what might happen. The smoke continued until it stopped, dissipated, and revealed a man with blue skin. Malik dropped the lamp from shock onto the floor. At that the guards rushed into the room, having been alerted by the ruckus the oil lamp made when hitting the floor, he gestured for them to wait but be on alert.

"Finally!" the man with the blue skin said stretching lavishly.

"Who and what are you?" Malik demanded to know.

That drew the man's attention. "I? I am a Djinn of course," he said sounding insulted. "What are they teaching the kids at school in these days? And my name is Anansi."

"School? What are you talking about? Speak Anansi before I have you thrown into the dungeon!" Malik demanded.

Anansi looked at him stunned before he took a closer look around. Recognition flittered over his face when he turned back around to Malik and bowed with a flourished movement. "I have to apologize for my words…wrong time period," he muttered the last part but Malik heard him nonetheless wondering what the – djinn was it? – meant but before he could ask Anansi continued. "You see an evil magician trapped me in this oil lamp a long time ago and in exchange for releasing me I will grant you three wishes," he told him while conjuring a big soft looking…something before throwing himself onto it coming to lie on his side. "So what do you say? Don't worry there is hardly any wish I cannot fulfil."

Malik looked at the djinn in contemplation. On the one hand he didn't really trust him but on the other that might solve a few of his problems.

"What tells me that you will actually fulfil my wishes and aren't just lying?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, but what do you have to lose? If you tell me your wishes and I fulfil them you win, if I don't…well you didn't lose anything and you'll probably throw me into your dungeon," the djinn shrugged.

Malik still didn't know what to think about the entire situation but it was as the…being...said, he didn't have anything to lose.

"Okay, I wish to have a long life, luck and the means to help a little girl to overcome her fear of the sun," he said after a few moments.

With those three wishes he didn't think about himself. No, what he wanted was a long life to be able to help and protect his people, luck to support him with it and the third one spoke for itself.

"You want to waste one of your wishes for some random girl? Well, it _is_ your choice," the djinn said with a shrug before snapping his fingers.

At first nothing seemed to happen, but that was when a young man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Said man had black hair that appeared to be a bit short and very messy. Malik looked at him in disbelief and it took a few moments before the man started to move and groan. The guards were instantly on high alert and ready to defend their sovereign.

"What the hell…what happened now? If it's that bastard Hitler again only because he doesn't understand the meaning of the word no, I'm going to kill him and I don't care that I end the second world war a few years early," the man grumbled.

"Sultan Malik Qaydbarghi, what shall we do?" one of the guards asked concerned.

"Wait and let him explain," Malik replied, he wasn't known for jumping to conclusions, judging someone before learning about them, and he certainly wouldn't start now.

"Wait, Shack? Kingsley Shacklebolt?" the man lying on the floor asked. "How did I manage to end up in my time? Or at least somewhere near it," he muttered.

"Who is Kingsley Shacklebolt?" Malik questioned confusedly ignoring the snickering of the djinn. "And what do you mean… _your time_?"

That finally made the man open his eyes and looking at the one who spoke. What he saw surprised him. Before him, sitting on a throne sat a man that looked like Kingsley Shacklebolt but on the same time did not. That was when he finally acknowledged the snickering and his head snapped towards the source before he narrowed them.

"Loki? I should have known that it was you, the entire thing bears your hallmarks," he growled lowly which sent the djinn into a fit of laugher. "And I thought hexing you blue and into that lamp would teach you not to get on my wrong side."

"So you were the evil magician who trapped him in that lamp?" Malik asked pointing towards said oil lamp.

"Evil? Is that what he told you? Perhaps he should have mentioned that I only did it as a punishment because Mr. Innocent over there managed to cause a war to break out between Rome and Egypt simply because he thought it was a good idea to sleep with Cleopatra which _I_ had to fix," he said giving the djinn a pointed glare.

"Oi! Potter, you were the one who brought out the Asgardian mead!" he retorted indignantly. "I don't even remember what happened that night."

"Not good enough," the man said.

"How can some potter fix a war?" Malik got more and more confused with each minute passing. "Who are you even?"

"Some potter?" now it was upon him to be confused before it dawned upon him. "Oh no, I'm not a potter in the sense of the profession, it is my name, Harry James Potter, who are you?"

"That actually makes more sense but doesn't answer my question," Malik said. "My name is Malik Qaydbarghi and I'm the liege lord of this land."

"King Shacklebolt? Interesting. You wouldn't happen to be related to a Kingsley Shacklebolt? Ah wait, wrong time you wouldn't know…never mind," Harry muttered much to the confusion of Malik but before he could say anything Anansi or how Mr. Potter had called him – Loki – spoke up.

"Oh sorry, it seems that Potter is using a translation charm…again, it translates your name and in his language it means King Shacklebolt," Loki explained.

"Sorry Mr. I-speak-every-language," Harry snapped. "Not everyone can speak whatever he speaks. Despite that what is with that Pikachu couch?"

"Nice, isn't it?" Loki smiled stroking over the couch.

"Enough!" Malik commanded and both Harry and Loki instantly fell silent and looked at him. "Anansi or Loki or whatever your name is, how is he supposed to help me with my problems?"

"Problems? What problems?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Your friend told me he would grant me three wishes for me having released him and as a result he transported you here," Malik explained.

Harry groaned. "I should never have let you watch Aladdin," he grumbled before he turned towards Malik. "How did you phrase your wishes?"

"I wished to have a long life, luck and the means to help a little girl to overcome her fear of the sun," Malik explained.

"That explains it. One thing you should know when asking something from Loki is that you have to pay a hell of a lot of attention to how you phrase things. The long life for one…I'm the Master of Death so yes I'm somewhat able to help you with that one. You wanted to have luck…well I'm luck on two legs or as my old potions professor would say – _sheer dumb luck_ – though it is a strange kind of luck and with the little girl…is she a vampire or simply heliophobic?" two of the three wishes he could explain but with the girl he was at a loss.

"What is a Vampire? And heliophobic?" to Malik it was as if Harry Potter was talking a completely different language which might be possible.

"Vampire…avoids sunlight, bites people and drinks their blood. Ringing any bells?"

"Certainly not," Malik exclaimed disgusted.

"Heliophobic then and it simply means fear from sunlight," Harry said. "Can you bring her here? I might be able to help her."

Malik nodded and motioned his guards to bring the girl to him. It took some time but soon the girl who was no older that six stood in front of them looking frightened.

"Hello little one," Harry said kindly kneeling in front of the girl. "I heard you're frightened of the sunlight. Do you want to tell me why?"

The little girl looked at Malik searching for approval. Seeing him nod she answered. "Because it hurts," she said in a low voice.

"Ah that is the problem," Harry smiled at her. "Loki, I think this is more your field of work," he gave the pagan a pointed look as to tell him that he should heal her.

Loki walked over and placed a hand on the girls head. A low golden glow encompassed the girl.

"There, all better," he said with a smile. "From now on you'll be able to go out into the sun without getting hurt, I promise."

At first the girl seemed to be unsure what to think about it but it didn't take long for hope to show on her face. "Really?" she asked.

"Really!" Loki replied.

"Thank you!" she shouted and hugged him which made Loki chuckle.

Malik smiled watching the girl rushing out of the room without as much as a goodbye.

"She was really depressed but it seems that you gave her the will to live back," he told them.

"Why did you ask for a long life and luck for yourself but the betterment of a child as a third wish?" Harry asked curiously having a suspicion.

"Oh, I didn't ask the first two for myself. I want to be a good ruler to my people and be able to help them for a long time, so you see it wasn't for me but for everyone under my reign," he said with a wistful smile.

Harry chuckled lowly. "I don't doubt that you'll live a long and healthy life but luck you don't need as long as you are a just ruler," Harry explained, he would have to annoy a few people but he would make sure that this man would get his first wish granted.

"Perhaps you're right," he admitted. "However, I have to thank you even if your visit here was more than strange and left me with more questions than answers but I don't wish to keep you here."

"It was an honour to meet you," Harry replied. "And perhaps I'll come and see how things are going again sometime."

"Could you at least turn me back to normal?" Loki whined.

Harry looked at him in contemplation. "Very well, but only if you behave yourself and join me in Vegas…I need to gamble a bit after this detour into the age of Merlin knows when," he growled needing to win some money and win he would…a lot...his luck was just that way.

Loki raised his hands in defeat and within a blink of the eye they both were gone leaving behind a very confused Malik. Who in the name of sanity was Merlin? Shaking his head Malik walked out of the room doubting that he would ever forget that encounter and he would be right.

In the following 152 years of his reign he would be what Harry had said he would be, a just ruler, helping his people wherever he could. He told his children about his little encounter who in turn told their children. Though over the centuries the story would become a fairy-tale and at some point be completely forgotten. The line of Qaydbarghi on the other hand continued on, even when it was translated into English at some point and consequently became Shacklebolt. Kingsley Shacklebolt however would never learn that he was connected to one of his ancestors through the one boy he helped to win a war and that later became so much more.


	6. A freezing Girl

Poppy (as inspired by Madam Pomfrey): Write about a character being treated, or treating someone, as a consolation prize.

Prompts:

(dialogue) "I wish you had told me before I… " / "What? Before you what?"

(emotion) lust

* * *

A freezing Girl – 1.175 words

Bill walked through the halls of Hogwarts having just come from the headmaster's office. Three weeks had passed since the first task of the Triwizard Tournament had taken place and the dragons were finally ready to be transported back to Romania. Bill though, had been in the headmaster's office for an entirely different reason. Though it was fortunate that he had at least gotten the opportunity to see his brother one last time before he went back to Romania.

No, he was at Hogwarts because of Harry Potter, the goblins had sent him as their go-between. Ever since the boy's name had come out of that blasted Goblet of Fire the Goblins had been furious with Dumbledore. The man had not only withheld the boy's vault key from him for ten years, but now he tried to prevent the boy's legal coming of age. It was infuriating, on the one hand the old man didn't want his charge to legally come of age, but on the other he kept insisting that there was no way for Harry not to participate in the blasted tournament; which in his opinion should have honestly stayed buried.

Bill sighed as he walked out to the courtyard to use it as a shortcut to get out of Hogwarts faster, when he became aware of a girl from Beauxbatons sitting in a corner obviously hiding but also freezing.

"Hey," he said walking over to where the girl was sitting to see whether or not he would be able to help her. "You should get inside, it is too cold to be outside without a coat, especially if you're only used to the far warmer climate at Beauxbatons."

"Oh, excusez-moi monsieur…," she replied turning around to him.

Bill who was surprised that it was Fleur Delacour smiled at her. "My name is William Weasley but everyone just calls me Bill," he held out his hand which she tentatively shook when he became aware of just how cold she already was. "Come here," he told her in a slightly disapproving but mostly worried tone, pulling her up, taking his coat off and throwing it over her shoulders before he started to rub her arms to get her warm again. "You'll freeze to death like that."

"Merci, monsieur Weasley," Fleur blushed slightly, never had a man done something like that for her, at least not without drooling over her.

"Please call me Bill," the man told her "Better?"

"Oui," Fleur nodded with a grateful smile.

"Good, but we really should get you back inside where it's warm, and even better yet, under a hot shower. Or else you'll probably have a cold by tomorrow. Where in the castle are your rooms?" Bill inquired.

"We don't 'ave rooms in the castle, we sleep in the carriage we came in," she snickered lowly.

"Oh…uhm I actually have no idea where that is," Bill sheepishly said suddenly feeling like a hormonal schoolboy again.

Fleur laughed upon hearing that and held onto Bill's arm leading him from the courtyard back into Hogwarts and down a few corridors before they left the building once again through the front door. Walking down the not yet snowbound meadow Fleur leaned against Bill savouring his warmth, A few minutes later they arrived at the carriage she lived in for the moment.

"Merci for 'elping me monsieur Bill," she said when she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.

Bill at first was shocked and surprised before he came out of his stupor and actually kissed her back. After a few moments she drew back again.

"You might not want to accompany me to the yule ball, non?" she asked with a smile.

Bill froze in place when he heard that, not that he wouldn't want to go to the yule ball with her, no that wasn't it.

"The thing is," he started looking down at his feet before he looked up again. "I'm not a student at Hogwarts anymore and haven't been for a few years now. The only reason I was here today was that I had an appointment with Dumbledore…."

"I wish you 'ad told me before I…," she started but didn't get any further

"What? Before you what? Kissed me?" Bill smiled but it quickly faded when he became aware of how embarrassed Fleur was. Gently pushing up her head he looked her straight in the eyes. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm honoured that you asked me to go to the ball with you and there is nothing I want more at the moment than to say yes. But unfortunately the rules of the Tournament say that one has to ask another student," he explained with a wistful smile. "Though I gladly promise to stay in contact and meet with you the next time you get to visit Hogsmead, how does that sound?"

"Excellent," she answered with a bright smile.

"Good, but now get inside and under a hot shower, I don't want to be the reason for you catching a cold," Bill chuckled giving he a light shove. "I'll send you an owl."

"Oui, and merci again monsieur Bill," she replied handing over the coat she still wore before stealing another chaste kiss from him. With another smile she turned around, opened the door of the carriage and walked in, closing the door behind her before she leaned against it. She really liked Bill Weasley, the man was such a gentleman and was certainly not like all those children around here who grated on her nerves with their pubescent behaviour around her. Unfortunately Bill couldn't save her from her dilemma of having to find someone that would accompany her to the ball which was really a pity in her opinion. With a smile on her face and her thoughts on the man she walked through to her room to get a hot shower.

* * *

Luckily Fleur had been able to find someone who went with her to the yule ball, Roger Davis, though the boy was just that…a boy. Roger completely fell for her charm but luckily he wasn't drooling over her yet. For her he was only a consolation prize since she wasn't able to take Bill, but if needs must she would endure the idiot. The only other consolation she had was that he didn't step on her toes every so often and knew how to dance but the entire time she imagined that a certain redhead was dancing here with her.

They had met a few more times since the first time they met and with each time she fell for him even more. He was tall, handsome and had that roguish appearance that was so different to all those other wizards she met here in Britain, which was what drew her in ever since she had seen him for the first time. Just thinking about him sent waves of lust through her, she forcefully had to tear herself away from those thoughts.

Today she would endure this consolation prize of a boy but tomorrow….


	7. All I Want for Christmas is Your Pancake

Round 7

Severus Snape is famous for making the best pancakes in the universe, Harry Potter wants to be just like him when he grows up

Prompts:

\- (song) All I Want for Christmas is You – Mariah Carey

\- (word) possible

A/N: So this is my attempt for this prompt. It is a no magic story with nice Dursleys who treat Dudley and Harry equally.

* * *

 **All I Want for Christmas is Your Pancakes - 2.455 words**

It was very early on the morning of July 31st 1989 and in one of the four bedrooms of No. 4 Privet Drive a small boy was extremely excited for the day ahead.

His name was Harry James Potter, and today was his 9th birthday.

Harry was so excited that he couldn't sleep since half past five that morning but he knew better than to wake his family that early, especially on a Saturday. So he stayed in his bedroom for now, picking up a book he had already read multiple times he flopped back down on his bed laying on his stomach and started to read it once more. He was halfway through the second chapter when his nerves finally got the best of him.

Luckily it was almost eight now and Harry was of the opinion that his aunt and uncle had slept for long enough. So he stood up, tossed his book onto the bed, and left his room. After a short stop in the bathroom to complete his morning routine, soon he was done there and once again slowly creeping up to his adopted parents' bedroom, carefully opening the door as to not make any noise as he slowly slid into the room.

Taking a running leap he jumped into the bed right between his aunt and uncle, effectively waking up both of them.

"Ungh...boy...go back to bed," Vernon growled turning around to go back to sleep.

"But uncle do you know what day it is today?" Harry piped up bouncing up and down in excitement making it impossible for his uncle to continue sleeping.

"Your birthday, now let me sleep." his uncle said with a glare.

Petunia snickered lowly upon hearing her husband's annoyance.

"Harry, come here," she told the now nine year old boy with a smile while holding out her arms for a hug. Harry happily flung himself into her arms hugging her close.

"Happy Birthday Harry." Petunia smiled down at her nephew and adopted son before kissing the top of his head.

"Thank you," Harry beamed up at her before jumping up and rushing out of the door and down the stairs.

Petunia snickered once again before patting her husband. "Come on let's get up before he comes back," she told him before she got up herself.

* * *

It was about half an hour later and Harry was sitting in the kitchen watching his aunt make breakfast, with a small pile of presents laying next to him. A pile which he ignored for now, wanting to open them after breakfast. Normally it was him who made the breakfast because according to his cousin he was the best at it, but since today it was his birthday his aunt made breakfast. That was when his cousin Dudley barged into the kitchen.

"Hey Harry! Happy Birthday cousin!" he said jumping on Harry's back probably as excited as Harry was. "We're going to the zoo today!"

Harry had wanted for them to go to the London zoo for his birthday and his aunt and uncle thought that it would be a nice change to their normal outings that were either to the beach or an amusement park.

"Oof, Dudley you're getting heavy," Harry laughed poking his cousin in the side while he sat down next to him.

"I'm the local boxing champion in my age group, not my fault that muscles are heavy." Dudley retorted with a grin.

Yes, after Petunia had found out that her son had a habit of making a punching bag out of smaller children she convinced Vernon to look for a healthier outlet for the boy's power which was why he was now visiting a boxing school three times the week. "I hope you like my present."

"Of course I will, it's from you isn't it" Harry replied watching his uncle enter the kitchen a bit disgruntled.

"Happy Birthday boy, but next time please refrain from waking us at such an ungodly hour," he grumbled.

"But uncle, then we would never get to the zoo," Harry cheekily retorted.

"He's right dad. What you would call a godly hour would be far after noon," Dudley threw an arm over Harry leaning against him while grinning at his dad.

Vernon muttered something about overly hyper children but sat down and waited for Petunia to serve breakfast. They all ate their breakfast peacefully and afterwards Harry opened his presents. From his aunt he got two new books, short stories about Sherlock Holmes. Ever since he had found a Sherlock Holmes book at the local library he had fallen in love with crime stories, especially with the ones by Arthur Conan Doyle.

His uncle on the other hand gifted him a new set of pencils for him to draw with. That, next to reading and cooking, was one of the things Harry loved to do the most, drawing, and he was quite good at it. So good actually that his aunt had enrolled him in a drawing course. It was quite fascinating, Dudley was more the type for sports while Harry searched for intellectual challenges. But together they made a good team, Dudley would keep bullies at bay and away from Harry, while Harry helped him with school.

This was also the reason for why he loved Dudley's present the most, it was a set for experimentation with chemicals and physics. Harry knew that Vernon probably paid for it but it was the thought that counted.

"Thank you Dudley," he said hugging his cousin.

"Hey you're welcome, I know how much you love to experiment so I thought this would be the best," Dudley replied with a broad smile. "And maybe you find a super weapon that makes me stronger," he added which made Harry laugh.

"I'll try but I won't promise anything," he retorted while standing up and picking up his presents to put them away in his room.

It took them another half an hour to get ready and leave the house driving to London. Dudley and Harry sat in the backseats excitedly discussing what animals they would see at the zoo. After what felt like no time at all they reached the zoo. Vernon went to buy the tickets while Harry and Dudley watched a chameleon they had in a terrarium at the entrance, closely watched by Petunia.

Once they were through the entrance gate and in the zoo the two children bolted towards the closest enclosure animatedly discussing what they were seeing. Petunia observed that with amusement while Vernon just followed her not looking overly excited to have to visit the zoo probably wishing that he was at home watching some TV show enjoying the weekend.

The family walked through the zoo enjoying the luckily nice weather. Three hours later they happily but exhaustedly left the zoo.

"Hey boys, I heard that a new café opened up right down the streets, it is famous for its pancakes. What do you think? Want to give it a try?" Petunia asked the two children but especially Harry since it is his birthday.

Harry and Dudley looked at each other before they nodded with a smile.

"We'd love to go," Harry finally said.

Petunia nodded setting into motion leading them to a small café with the name "Café Prince" that had a few tables with chairs standing outside beneath large umbrellas to protect the customers from the sun. Inside the café was held in cream colours with a long dark red bench going along the right side with more tables and chairs. In the back was a large counter with a glass showcase in which stood several different cakes as well as a cooling unit with ice in it.

The Dursleys though sat together with Harry outside to enjoy the sun. All of them ordered pancakes Petunia and Dudley with maple syrup while Vernon took sugar beet syrup and Harry chose strawberry syrup.

It took about ten minutes when Harry watched a man coming out with a large tablet in his hands where their orders were upon. The man had shoulder long black hair bound with a ribbon at the nape of his neck, dark nearly black eyes and wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, as well as black trousers. Over that all he wore a white apron.

"I heard someone has his birthday today so I prepared a little surprise," he said coming to a top at their table where he placed down the tablet when his eyes fell upon Petunia. "Petunia?" he asked surprised.

Petunia who was looking at a pamphlet they got at the zoo, looked up her eyes widening in surprise.

"Severus Snape?" shock and surprise was the most prominent emotions on her face. "How long has it been? It must be a decade now that we last met."

"Aunty, who is this?" Harry questioned confuse, he never saw this man before but his aunt obviously knew him.

"This is Severus Snape," she introduced the man to the rest of her family. "In our child hood we were friends and went to the same school together with your mother, Harry. Unfortunately we lost contact though when we graduated but I heard you got your mastery in chemistry being the youngest doing so in quite some time. That you're now here having a café is quite the surprise."

"Actually it is Severus Prince now, I reconnected with my grandparents and they brought me back into the family. They were also the reason for why I abandoned my job as a chemist and opened this café, it just didn't fulfil me like this does and they saw it and encouraged me to live my dream," he explained while distributing the plates until he came to Harry's. "You must be Lily's son, happy birthday. It is a tragedy that your parents died so young but I see that Petunia takes good care of you."

Upon hearing him talking about his parents Harry became a bit sad. They had been killed by some madman during a bank robbery on Halloween eight years ago which was also the reason for why he now lived with his aunt and uncle. However, today it was his birthday and despite wishing that his parents were with him here he didn't want to let the fact they couldn't sour his mood. So he looked at his plate and saw that his pancake was a little piece of art. The whipped cream and the strawberry syrup were shaped to a small landscape with rivers made out of the syrup and mountains of cream while small chocolate animals were gathered around.

"This is…wow," Harry said with a smile. "Thank you, Sir."

"You're welcome and please you may call me Severus," the man replied watching how Harry tried a piece of the pancake.

Harry hummed in delight when he tasted the rich taste of the pancake closing his eyes in delight.

"This must be the best pancake in the entire world…no the entire universe. What ingredients did you use? I can taste cinnamon and…it can't be…cardamom?" Harry mused trying to discern what made those pancakes so special. "Did you make them?"

"Very well deducted indeed," Severus chuckled lowly. "I see you know your spices and yes it was me who made those pancakes."

Harry flushed a bright red upon the praises especially from a man who made such otherworldly pancakes.

"He normally makes the breakfast and he is quite good at it," Petunia told snickering upon her nephew's embarrassment.

"I'm not that good," Harry tried to hide his blush by sipping at his chocolate drink but the adults saw it nonetheless.

That was when Dudley leaned over to Harry and whispered something in his ear. At first only a smile crept up on Harry's face but in the end he couldn't stop himself giggling.

"May I ask what is so funny?" Severus inquired.

"Dudley just reminded me of a Christmas song we heard last year," Harry replied not wanting to elaborate further but did so upon the inquisitive glances of the adults.

" _I don't want a lot for Christmas  
_ _There is just one thing I need, and I  
_ _Don't care about the presents  
_ _Underneath the Christmas tree  
_ _I don't need to hang my stocking  
_ _There upon the fireplace  
_ _Santa Claus won't make me happy  
_ _With a toy on Christmas day_

 _I just want it for my own  
_ _More than you could ever know  
_ _Make my wish come true  
_ _All I want for Christmas is you(r pancake)"_

 _(All I want for Christmas is you - Mariah Carey)_

He recited fluently knowing the lyrics quite well because Dudley and he tended to sing along it when the song play in the radio the last winter though he slightly changed it to fit the situation.

Severus snickered again. "Perhaps you then might want to convince your aunt to come here again on Christmas or shortly after because I intend to open then at least in the afternoon. Despite that, once you leave school and really want to learn how to cook and bake professionally, don't hesitate to come to me, I'd gladly train you," he offered the young boy, someone who knew spices as well as Harry did and that at his age could get far in this branch.

Harry didn't know what to think or say. Was it really possible that this man who was so obviously brilliant in his job offered to train him?

"I don't know what to say," he finally brought out.

"Just think about it, it will be a few years before you graduate after all," Severus told him with a smile. "However, I have to go back to work now. Enjoy your pancakes."

Harry nodded and with a last smile Severus went back into the café and to work.

"I have to say that he looks much happier than the last time I saw him," Petunia mused redirecting her attention back to her own pancake that while not as intricately designed as Harry's, still was delicious.

* * *

Before long the day drew to an end and Harry laid in his bed staring at the ceiling thinking about the day and especially their visit to the café. Severus really had meant it when he offered him to teach him how to cook and especially bake well enough to open up a café. Lying there and thinking about it, it became more and more obvious to Harry that this was exactly what he wanted to do later in life. He loved cooking for his family and he surely would have to practise more but todays visit to the café had made him determined. Determined to become like Severus Snape…no Severus Prince a worldwide known pancake baker.


	8. Shining Example or Bad Influence?

Round 9

As we all know, without Quidditch equipment you can't play the game, nor can you play without any team members.

Below is a list of different pieces of equipment. Your task is to write a story about a known Quidditch player using the prompts associated with each piece of equipment. No double claims within teams.

Beater's Bat: Write about a bully.

Prompts:

(quote) Because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile. (Anne Shirley) ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

(dialogue) "Should we tell him that it's fake?"

(colour) lime green

* * *

Shining Example or Bad Influence? – 999 words

It was May and Luna currently was sitting in the court yard of Hogwarts having a dreaming expression on her face gazing at some point only she was able to see. All the while she was lowly humming a low eery tune swaying slightly to it. Everyone was giving her a wide berth some thinking that she was strange, others that she wasn't all there and some even thought her completely nuts. Luna, however, was used to being ignored. The only people who ever talked to her in another way than degrading her were Harry and his friends and even they thought that she was strange. Well, not Harry…no Harry was always nice to her and even protected her from those nasty Nargles.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice that someone walked up to her, someone far taller and muscular than she was.

"I already heard that you're quite the oddball here but seeing you now, sitting here without shoes and all dreamy I have to say that they were right," the male laughed.

Luna blinked lazily and looked up to see Victor Krum the star seeker of Durmstrang standing there in front of here. The Boy who soon would become a man was staring at her in a depreciating way.

"Oh hello!" Luna replied with a dreamy smile. "You see our dorm is infested with Nargles and they love to hide my things."

"Nargles?" Krum asked in disbelieve.

"Yes, they are naughty little creatures, like to steal and hide things. My necklace is supposed to keep them away but that only works as long as I'm with my possessions, but during class…," she explained with a wistful smile.

"Are you sure that you're not imagining those Nargles? Because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile," Krum said laughing. "You know perhaps I should show you how you'd really be able to keep those stupid things away."

With that Krum started to hex Luna, her former sky-blue dress suddenly was a lime-green with hideous pink dots on it. Her blonde hair turned into a sickly yellow and warts sprouted all over her face.

"There now you look like you'd be able to fend of those stupid Nargles. They'd probably flee from you as soon as they see you."

Laughing Krum turned around and left the court yard and Luna could see how some of the other students currently sitting in several places scrunched their noses and also left.

Luna only sighed deeply while taking out a book on creatures from her bag in order to read it. That was when Harry stepped out of the shadows of a statue and walked over to where Luna was sitting.

"Luna, what has he done this time," Harry said taking a deep breath to calm himself or he would probably run after Krum and hex him three ways to Sunday, out of some reason Luna didn't want him to get involved when it came to Krum.

This hadn't been the first incident where Krum had targeted cute little Luna. No, ever since they arrived before Halloween last year, Luna was the target of more pranks and attacks from the Bulgarian star seeker than he could count or was comfortable with. Harry would never have dreamed that the same man he had met at the Quidditch World Cup the year prior was such an arse and worse a bully to boot.

While he was in "public", so every time someone of status or the newspaper was around, he played the normal friendly albite a bit rough boy who had the luck to be good at Quidditch. However, as soon as there were only few people around and those that weren't be able to get him into trouble for his ways, his demeanour took an entire 180° turn and he became the worst bully Harry had the unfortunate luck to have met, not even Dudley was that bad. What he did to Luna today was harmless to all the other things Harry witnessed over the school year, tripping hexes on staircases, full body binds in rarely frequented places or even placing unconscious males in female bathrooms.

Krum's favourite targets were Muggle-born but he also attacked those that weren't "normal" like Luna or the generally disliked and excluded students. It was only that Harry had showed during the first task that he wasn't to be trifled with and the fact that he was well known, that Krum left him alone. No, Harry didn't delude himself that should Krum see him as weak or not so well known because of something Harry had no influence upon, that he would be targeted quicker than he could say Quidditch.

Taking another deep breath, Harry flicked his wand towards Luna and quickly undid what Krum had hexed her with.

"This is getting ridiculous. Are you sure that we shouldn't tell him that it's fake?" he asked his friend sitting down next to her.

"Nah, I find it funny and as long as I have you, I know that I'll be safe and the Nargles kept at bay," she replied leaning against the one friend she knew liked her the way she was. "Despite that we'll be rid of him soon."

Harry laughed lowly. He long since had found out that Luna's strange creatures only were her way of dealing with the world. So were Nargles the bullies around her and Wrackspurts things that distracted you and made your brain go fuzzy. Harry just took Luna as she was, strange habits and all and that was why Luna obviously trusted him.

"Come on, Lunch will be served soon," Harry told her with a smile standing up and holding out his hand to help her standing up.

Luna smiled brightly and jumped up taking Harry's hand and they both walked into the castle talking about creatures Harry had seen during the second task. Soon they would be rid of Krum.


	9. The Spectral Killer of London Town

Round 10

Each position has been assigned the top hit from a different decade. Interpret these however you wish.

1950's: Mack the Knife — Bobby Darin

Prompts:

(dialogue) "How could you possibly think that was a good idea?"

(word) luminous

(word) remote

* * *

 _Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear  
And he shows them pearly white  
Just a jackknife has old Macheath, babe  
And he keeps it out of sight_

 _You know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe_  
 _Scarlet billows start to spread_  
 _Fancy gloves, though, wears old Macheath, babe_  
 _So there's never, never a trace of red_

 _Now on the sidewalk, ooh, sunny morning, uh-huh_  
 _Lies a body just oozin' life_  
 _Eek, and someone's sneakin' 'round the corner_  
 _Could that someone be Mack the Knife?_

 _There's a tugboat down by the river, don't ya know_  
 _Where a cement bag's just a-droopin' on down_  
 _Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear_  
 _Five'll get ya ten, old Macky's back in town_

 _Now d'ya hear about Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe_  
 _After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash_  
 _And now Macheath spends just like a sailor_  
 _Could it be our boy's done something rash?_

 _Now Jenny Diver, ho, ho, yeah, Sukey Tawdry_  
 _Ooh, Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown_  
 _Oh, the line forms on the right, babe_  
 _Now that Macky's back in town_

 _I said Jenny Diver, whoa, Sukey Tawdry_  
 _Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown_  
 _Yes, that line forms on the right, babe_  
 _Now that Macky's back in town_

 _Look out ol' Macky's back_

 _(Mack the Knife — Bobby Darin)_

* * *

The Spectral Killer of London Town – 1.772 words

It was now seven years since the last great wizarding war ended with the death of Lord Voldemort. Ever since that day the wizarding world celebrated Harry James Potter as their great saviour, the one who brought them peace again. Said world was striving once again and it seemed that nothing would be able to disturb that peace, not as long as their great saviour and protector was there to reign in the dark wizards and witches.

In the muggle part of Great Britain it was a complete different story. There panic and fear were the dominant emotions. Why? A serial killer was going around and Scotland Yard was helpless. No evidence was ever found at the crime scenes and no suspects in sight. The only thing that was known about the murderer was that he started about five years ago and his tool of choice was a simple jackknife, hence why the newspapers gave him the name "Mack the Knife" referring to the character in the Threepenny Opera. Even the background checks of the victims didn't help the police as there was never any contact between them or other intersections. Forty nine victims over the last five years and the police knew as much as they did since the first case. The victims ranged from a banker who was murdered in his house to a single mother murdered on the parking area of a supermarket in broad daylight or even the odd derelict.

Scotland Yard wouldn't admit it but they were at their end with this case. Kills in broad daylight with dozens of witnesses and nothing. No description of the culprit, no evidence…simply nothing. It was as if the man or woman was a ghost.

They even sent an inquiry to their magical equivalent, asking whether it was one of their people running rampart but they only told them that no magic had been used at the crime scenes at the time of the crimes, so it was unlikely to be a magical.

Had they both known the truth, they would have been shocked to the core.

* * *

 _ **The Spectral Killer of London Town**_

 _Mack the Knife strikes again! – Scotland Yard powerless?_

 _Yesterday in a remote suburb of London another victim of the serial killer known as Mack the knife struck again. His fiftieth victim was found sitting on a bench in a church. Onlookers first assumed that the woman (54) was simply praying but when she didn't move after hours the vicar went to investigate._

" _The poor woman. I knew her quite well, she always came to the Sunday service," said the vicar later in an interview. "How someone could murder such a nice soul is incomprehensible."_

 _Said woman had been murdered by a single stab to the heart and thanks to the black cloak she wore no one noticed it at first._

 _Scotland Yard sealed off the crime scene and started their investigations immediately. However, as the media spokesman later announced, again no evidence could be found. They ask the population for help. If anyone knows anything about the so called Spectral Killer, Mack the Knife please call the police immediately._

 _Though one has to wonder when the murderer will finally be caught._

 _We can only hope that the police soon will find a lead. These are unsafe times indeed._

* * *

In a beautiful study a blonde haired man in the mid-twenties snickered lowly, folded the muggle newspaper cautiously once he finished reading the article and placed it on the table in front of him before taking a sip from the tea that was standing on the table.

"How could you possibly think that was a good idea?" the man asked his companion who sat opposite of him drinking his own tea with a smirk. Said companion was about his age, had raven black hair and mesmerizing killing-curse green eyes.

"Oh Draco, why would that have been not a good idea?" said other man asked in return.

"I don't know, Harry…perhaps because you murdered a woman in broad daylight in a church? You know one day your insane luck will run out and then you're in deep trouble," Draco replied slightly frustrated.

"Please, as if those idiotic muggles are able to see through a notice-me-not and a disillusionment charm," Harry retorted.

Draco shook his head. "However, fifty successfully completed orders. Congratulations!" he chuckled. "Should the magical world ever find out what their saviour is doing in his free-time…."

"I remember how you looked when you found out," Harry laughed.

It had been four and a half year ago. Harry just started his little side business and was looking out for clients when he received a message that a potential client wanted to meet with him in a small café in Central London. When he arrived and saw Draco sitting there he had half a mind to decline the job and simply leave. However, he had been bored at that time and needed some distraction so he thought, why not. And should Draco, who still had been Malfoy to him at that time, try to rat him out…well, one less Malfoy in this world. Though his decision to talk to him in the end proved to be the best he could have made.

* * *

 _~ Flashback ~_

Harry walked over to the table where Malfoy was sitting, taking a seat opposite of his old school yard nemesis.

"Potter? What are you doing here?" Malfoy questioned him. "And would you be so gracious and leave? I have an appointment to keep."

Harry smirked at that. "I know," he simply replied.

"How…?" Malfoy asked before thinking about it, watching how Harry's smirk broadened. "It can't be, can it? YOU?"

Seeing the absolutely flabbergasted look on Malfoy's face, Harry had a very hard time not to outright laugh. He never saw the blond ponce so undone before.

"Yes me. Surprised?" he snickered lowly.

"Surprised? But…you…," Malfoy didn't know what to say anymore, Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world, Boy-who-lived and shining light of all that was good and right was a contract killer? Had he entered some strange alternate universe?

"So whom do I have the honour to take care of for you?" Harry inquired leaning back completely relaxed as if he wasn't discussing the imminent death of someone.

"You're serious," Malfoy said also leaning back but more in shock. Taking a deep breath he told Harry who his target was, to him it was more important to get rid of the upstart that was threatening him than wondering about Harry Potter's extracurricular activities.

 **Two days later – The same café**

"It is done. I hope you have the money," Harry said while sitting down opposite of Draco, casually crossing his legs.

"I still can't wrap my mind around it," Malfoy laughed, shoving over a silver metal suitcase, he already knew that the job was done. "As agreed."

Harry smirked at that. "Thank you, it was a pleasure doing business with you," he said with a nod and just wanted to stand up and leave when Malfoy stopped him.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "I want to help you."

Harry looked at Malfoy in disbelieve but slowly sat down again. "You want to help me? What for?" he wanted to know.

"With your…business," he replied but hasted to explain when it looked as Harry wanted to leave again. "I have connections, know people who would make use of your services. Do you really think that the Malfoy family only has connections in the dark community? We also have associations in the London underground."

Now Harry looked at Malfoy more interested. "What would be in it for you?" he asked cautiously, Malfoy was a Slytherin first and foremost and would never do anything without a hidden agenda.

"A percentage of the payment," Malfoy shrugged with a smile. "But more importantly someone in your field of work I can call my friend."

Harry narrowed his eyes but he had to admit that it would be nice to have a foot in the London underground. Up to now he only got the odd job but nothing that could challenge him. However, if Malfoy delivered what he promised that was most likely to change. So yes, he was inclined to accept.

"Very well, but should you think that you can betray me…let's just say that it is nothing you want, Malfoy," he answered, holding out his hand for the blond to take.

Now it was upon Malfoy to smirk. He nodded and firmly shook Harry's hand. This was how Draco Malfoy became the secretary to Harry Potter and the beginning of a very good friendship.

 _~ Flashback end ~_

* * *

Oh yes, accepting Malfoy's offer had been very good indeed.

"I have never been that surprised in my entire life, though I never asked…how did you become a contract killer in the first place?" Draco wondered.

"It actually started when I killed Voldemort," Harry began ignoring the slight flinch from Draco. "When I killed him…the rush of it. First I thought it was because everything was over, the war, the fighting…everything. Then I entered the Auror force. It was about a year and a half later that I had to kill someone in a fight and I again felt that euphoria, felt so alive. That was when I realized it and I wanted to feel it again. It took me half a year to find out how to best harness it and even make money with it."

"But why a jackknife?" he asked further.

"Why not? It is easy to use and easy to hide," Harry shrugged sipping his tea.

The knife and the clothes he used for his jobs were spelled so that they repelled any liquid which also included blood. It was ingenious actually, that way even if the police ever caught him with the knife, they would never have any evidence against him.

Draco chuckled lowly. "Indeed. On an unrelated note, I have three new jobs for you," he told Harry handing over three folders. "One should appeal you the most."

Harry quickly scanned the content of the three folders before he picked one especially with a malicious glee in his eyes. This indeed would be a welcome challenge.

"A high ranking politician? You're a sweetheart, Draco," he replied looking on his watch that had a luminous dial so that he could see that time even in the dark, it seemed that he would be out this evening.

And that was how the fifty first victim of the Spectral Killer, Mack the Knife was chosen. London should be careful because Harry Potter is in town!


	10. The Curse of Harry Potter

Round 11

Write about growing old on a winter day(s) OR youthfulness on a spring night(s).

Prompts:

(emotion) bitterness

(emotion) melancholy

A/N: Decide for yourself whether it is growing old on a winter day or youthfulness on a spring night…because yes I managed to get both in even if the second one is more metaphorical.

* * *

The Curse of Harry Potter?! – 1.613 words

Harry was sitting in his rocking chair looking out the window and onto the vast snow covered landscape melancholy hanging heavily in the air. He felt old…really old. Okay, he was old – 179 in fact – but he never felt his age before. The problem was that Ginny, his beloved Ginny had died this summer, leaving him behind, alone.

Their children were scattered all over the world pursuing their jobs and even his grandchildren already all left. Sure they all wrote him more or less regularly but he felt alone, sitting there and watching over the snow covered lands of his mansion.

Every other one of his friends also were long since gone. The first one had been Hermione. Oh, good old Hermione, she had died with 143 from Dragon Pox, it had devastated Ron and the normally quite joyful man hadn't been himself anymore afterwards. That was until ten years later he also died for no apparent reason. It had looked like he finally gave up and joined his wife in the next great adventure, as Dumbledore liked to call it.

Then there was also Neville. After they left school Harry and Neville became quite good friends and helped each other if necessary. However, even Neville left him 14 years ago after a failed robbery down Knockturn Alley where he went to buy some potions for his beloved plants.

Luna, Susan Bones – whom he got to know during his time as an Auror –, hell even Draco…all dead.

And he didn't want to start upon those whom he lost during the war with Voldemort. Fred, Snape, Dumbledore…all he loved, all he once called friends were dead, gone…and he was the only one remaining. Oh, don't understand him wrong, he loved his children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren but they had their own lives and while they still stayed in contact…well they weren't in his life anymore.

Without anyone else here the mansion felt cold, vast and lonely. With no one around, Harry actually wondered why he should stay around anymore. Two little words would be all it took to join his friends and family in the afterlife, two little words that would bring him happiness again, Harry thought with bitterness.

"But have you truly been happy in your life?" a deep raspy voice suddenly asked from beside him.

"Who are you?" Harry asked not looking at the man and he didn't even pretend to be worried that a seemingly strange suddenly appeared out of nowhere right next to him, not even bothered by the wards that were erected around the ancient Potter manor.

"One might think that you'd recognize me, Master," the man replied with a low chuckle. "I'm Death."

"Here to finally claim me?" Harry questioned, a small smile gracing his lips, perhaps he wouldn't even need to do the deed himself after all.

"Maybe," the entity said with a thoughtful face. "But then maybe not. You see, ever since you picked up the three Hallows and managed to master them you manoeuvred yourself into an interesting…condition. The thing is, being Master of Death comes with a few unique talents and perks."

"Does my fickle kind of luck count towards that?" he drawled out, not liking where this was going even one bit.

Now Death outright laughed. "I fear that this is your Potter heritage," he answered once he cooled down again. "No, what I meant was…."

"Let me guess, I cannot die," Harry interrupted him with a sigh, why else would the entity come here and have _that_ kind of talk with him.

"This is indeed one of the…perks of being my Master," Death nodded solemnly but Harry didn't see it because he was still staring out of the window.

"Great," Harry retorted sarcastically before he snorted. "Tom would have been delighted about this though I somehow have the feeling he would have a problem with working with you."

"Tom Riddle certainly also was a candidate for becoming my Master with him being a descendant of Cadmus Peverell," Death conceded. "But he never even gained all three Hallows so this is a moot point. However, it seems that we got largely off topic. If I remember correctly, I asked you whether you were happy in your life."

For the first time in their entire conversation Harry looked at Death seeing a pale, gaunt looking man who wore a black muggle suit and had a cane in his right hand with what looked like a skull as a handle, standing there not even a feet away from him. The man radiated power.

"What do you care?" he finally asked after a few minutes of silence, irritation and anger about the insinuation spreading through him. "Do you want to relish in the knowledge that I would never see my family and friends ever again, even in death? Or do you want to rub salt into the wound?"

"My Master, my intention couldn't be further from that. What I wanted to know is whether you are happy with how your life turned out or whether you might want to…change things," Death told him with a smirk.

Now Harry narrowed his eyes on the man, having gotten to know enough Slytherins in his life and even having some in the family, he knew that the entity had some ulterior motive.

"What do you mean with…changing things?" he carefully inquired.

Again Death chuckled lowly. "Being my Master, as I said, comes with certain perks. One is your immortality, another is that you can travel anytime and anyplace you want with a mere thought."

Harry looked back out of the window, thinking through what Death just told him. He could go back in time and save everyone he couldn't the first time around; all the people that died during the war, hell even his parents, he could save them all if he wanted to. But then another thought occurred to him. If he saved them, what then? He would have to watch them die all over again even if only from old age, anyone he would ever come to love would be ripped from him anyway. This wasn't a perk that was a curse!

"So I go back in time to when my family and friends are still alive and what? I watch them die all over again?" he snorted derisively.

Death sighed at that. "I cannot do anything about the natural order of things but I can appease you," he said holding up his hands defensively when Harry glared at him. "Should you ever come across another person that you love so wholly that you would want to spend eternity with him or her…I would be able to do something about _that_. You don't have to be alone!"

Harry hummed lowly when hearing that. The first person that came to his mind was Ginny, he could go back in time and woo her for a second time but there was a niggling feeling when he thought about her. Sure, he loved his wife and was heartbroken when she died but was it enough to want to spend eternity with her?

Somehow he had a feeling that it was not.

Thinking about his life together with her, he had to admit that parts of it wasn't what he wanted but put up with for her sake. He never wanted to be in the lime light but Ginny always made sure that they ended up in the newspaper, one way or another. Then there was also the feeling that something had been missing in their partnership. As it was, he loved her but the longer he thought about it the more and more he was sure that she wouldn't be the one who would spend eternity with. But then there was the entire history of humanity to choose from and maybe one day he would come across the right one for him.

"What if I say…decide to go back to the 1940s and, I don't know, woo Tom? Wouldn't that change things?" he questioned, this entire thing became more and more interesting to him.

"Not at all, Master. Ever since you mastered the Hallows you stopped to exist within the time continuum, so even if you'd kill yourself you'd still exist. It is complicated and I don't expect you to understand it just yet but be reassured that whatever you change it would never effect you," Death explained.

Harry nodded. "What about my age?"

"You'd look the age you want to." It looked for Death that Harry would accept his new situation quite well, which was good because he certainly didn't want him to fight it and only lose himself because of it.

"Good," Harry replied with a huge grin.

When this day began he had felt old and tired. But it seemed that Death managed to rekindle that little flame of life within him that he knew still burned within him and that up to now had hindered him from killing himself after Ginny's death. This morning he had been an old man on a winter's day but over the duration of the day this year/life ended, a new year/life started and soon his youthfulness returned. Now it was a spring's night for him– even if it still was winter outside – with a whole new year/life in front of him and he had to admit that he looked forward to it.

"Watch out world! Here comes Harry Potter, Master of Death!" he said with a glee in his eyes that would have made the Marauders proud and without any sound he was gone, leaving behind a laughing Death.

This would prove to be interesting!


	11. The Point of No Return

Round 12

Harry Potter is an amazing fandom for writers. There are so many pairings out there that another person might look at with wide eyes and say, 'what on Earth are you thinking?' To you, however, you may just love that pairing. This round, everyone is given the same 16 characters. It is your choice, however, how you decide to pair them. If something like Dobby and Umbridge in a romantic relationship is your thing, then sure, we won't judge you.

You'll be writing about two characters in an enemies relationship. (Dumbledore/Harry Potter)

Prompts:

(word) name

(dialogue) "Move away from the door and let me at him!"

* * *

Point of No Return – 1.770 words

Harry was angry, and not the " _I don't speak to you for a week because you upset me"_ kind of angry, or the " _I'm angry because something went wrong_ " kind of angry, not even the " _I'm angry because no one listens to me_ " kind of angry he felt with the Ministry lately. No, those kind of angers Harry knew and had felt before but what he felt now was different, substantially different. It was the " _I'll ruin your life_ " kind of anger, the " _I'll tear your world apart until there is nothing more left then dust, ashes and ruins_ " kind of anger, it was the kind of anger that changed people, for the better or the worse.

He was completely and absolutely pissed.

People would now assume that it was Voldemort whom he was mad with for luring him to the Department of Mysteries within the Ministry of Magic. They would assume that it was how said man manipulated him to get the thrice damned Prophecy that enraged him. Or that even the attempted possession of him during which he nearly killed people before he could evict the man was what set him off. Maybe it was also the fact that his own recklessness was what cost his godfather his life that he was furious about, or that it was a consequence of the Dark Lord's actions that he was fuming over.

They all would be wrong.

Harry wasn't furious with Voldemort or himself, not even with Bellatrix Lestrange née Black who shot the curse that tripped Sirius and let him fall through the veil. Remus Lupin who hold him back when he tried to get to the veil in hope of getting Sirius back? Also not the one he was so very angry with.

No, the real person he was angry with was no one other than Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, former Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, former Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Order of Merlin First Class. Oh and don't forget master manipulator, grand chess player and biggest hypocrite of the century if not millennia, the Dark Lord was nothing against this man.

Now, some people might have a hard time to find enough reasons that would warrant such anger, such deep-rooted hatred, but if one only looked close enough to find more than a sufficient amount of incidences that weigh high. If you then add the last straw that breaks the camel's back…it is a point of no return.

That it was what just happened.

It was all those little things that piled up to a monumental amount. Knowing that Sirius wasn't the secret keeper but never getting him out of prison, dumping him – Harry – knowingly with the worst sort of muggles in existence, setting him up against Voldemort again and again, denying him the possibility of staying somewhere else than his relatives over the summer. Thousand little things, thousand in itself not all that important decisions that culminated to what was happening right now in Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore was currently going on over how it was his fault that Sirius was dead and how he thought that keeping his distance to Harry would keep him safe. That he knew how Harry was feeling…but Harry had enough.

Up to that point Harry just sat there emotionlessly staring at Dumbledore not really acknowledging what the old man was saying. Inwardly he was seething and now it was enough.

"Enough!" he boomed, silencing Dumbledore in an instant. "You claim to know how I feel?" he hissed before he chuckled lowly. "Oh I beg to differ. You know nothing about me. Shoved under the _care_ of those vile muggles – and I use the word care very loosely here – forgotten for years and only once you thought was the right time you deigned to remember me? You think you know how it feels to be treated like the worst house-elf day in and day out? Hell, even Malfoy treats his house-elves better!"

"Harry-," Dumbledore began but was promptly interrupted by Harry.

"Oh no, I don't want to hear your excuses anymore, your pathetic attempts at staying in my good graces. You lost my last respect for you when I got to know that Sirius never got a trial and YOU could have done something about it," Harry snorted. "But learning that you knew the entire content of that thrice damned Prophecy and never said a word? Probably even set me up against Voldemort so that I would fulfil the prophecy and die like a good little puppy for his master? Never again! And don't come to me with your excuses, I'm not stupid," he snarled. "The stone's protection? Was so bad that even three first years could get past it. The Chamber? An idiot with half a brain could have found out where the entrance was and what the beast within was. In the name of Merlin, you had to know where it was even if you couldn't enter it! When you learned that I was a parselmouth you could have approached me and asked me to open it for you but no, the great Albus Dumbledore would never ask for help. Third and fourth year? You don't really want me to start on those or fifth year for that matter. Now learning about that Prophecy? Well, I'm done with you!"

Harry stood up and wanted to leave the office when Dumbledore spoke up.

"Harry Potter," he said in a stern voice. "You are completely unreasonable. For every one of your points exists a good explanation if you would only listen to them."

"Flimsy explanations and even more flimsy excuses. You know Dumbledore, the Prophecy said that the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approached though I wonder who this Dark Lord is, Voldemort? Or is it perhaps _you_?" Harry said with a low chuckle before he turned around and walked towards the door. "Oh and before I forget it, don't you dare trying to use Grimmauld Place ever again. Have a nice day!"

With that he opened the door, leaving behind a stunned to silence Dumbledore, and ran straight into Snape who obviously had waited behind the door and listened in.

"Hello Professor Snape," Harry said with a knowing smirk while closing the door, done playing the meek little boy in front of anyone. "I hope you learned something interesting."

Harry stepped around a surprised Snape and began to walk down the stairs. Snape observed that when he made a moments decision.

"Mr. Potter," he said without the usual bite to it. "Did you know that the Prophecy was spoken during the job interview of Trelawney in the Hog's Head?"

Harry snapped around so fast that it was a wonder that he didn't get a whiplash. "I beg your pardon?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Dumbledore actually set up the interview there and during that interview when it became apparent that she wasn't qualified for the job she suddenly spouted the Prophecy which was overheard by a Death Eater and then relayed to the Dark Lord," Snape explained but his eyes widened in surprised when Harry suddenly had his wand in hand and sported a murderous glare, obviously wanting to enter the headmaster's office again.

He told Potter this information to see how he would react but that the boy would react that way he hadn't predicted, he hadn't thought it possible that Potter would ever be able to see through Dumbledore's mask of a nice old if a bit eccentric man and see the real person behind it. But he obviously was wrong if the boy's reaction was anything to go by, he could see how angry the boy was.

Even with that knowledge, Snape quickly stepped in front of the office door, consequently blocking the way only to find himself at wand point. He carefully glanced at the wand but he didn't move away or drew his own wand.

"Move away from the door and let me at him!" Harry snarled. "I might not have had enough fury in me when I cast the Cruciatus at Bellatrix to make it work to its full capacity but I certainly have now."

Snape swallowed hard but still didn't move away. "Mr. Potter, it is a wonder that no one called you upon it in the Ministry but that will be different here," he said tentatively not wanting the boy to snap and curse _him_. "All you'd achieve if you storm in there and curse Dumbledore is that you'd get shipped off to Azkaban. Is that what you want?"

Harry looked for a long moment more at the Potions Master before he finally took a deep breath and put his wand down. "No!" he said decisively holstering his wand again. "What do you suggest then?" he asked the dour man wondering why he was discussing this with the man he liked the least.

Snape let out a breath he didn't knew he held. "There are far worse things in this world you can do to a man than cursing him and Dumbledore has a few very nasty secrets," he replied with a smirk. "If you could stop your reckless and foolish Gryffindorish behaviour for a moment and start thinking about it I don't doubt that you wold be able to come up with something."

"So you're telling me to act more like a Slytherin? That shouldn't be too hard," Harry chuckled lowly upon seeing his Professor's disbelieving stare. "The hat wanted to place me in Slytherin after all. Though I wonder, why are you telling me all of this? I mean you hate me and your loyalties definitely don't lie with me."

"My loyalty always laid with your mother, even after our fallout, and in extension with…you," Snape drawled out.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. "You certainly have a strange way of showing it considering how you treated me over all those years."

"I had my reasons," Snape only replied.

"Let me guess, the reason is called Dumbledore," Harry snorted and received a curt nod. "Sounds like the old fool. Anyway, I have to go and plan the downfall of a certain man. Have a nice day."

Snape watched how Potter walked down the winding stairs, vanishing from sight. He sighed, this would certainly be interesting but he made a mental note to not stand in the boy's way again. The power he had felt, he definitely knew now why Dumbledore was so sure that the boy would be able to defeat the Dark Lord. The future would be interesting indeed.


	12. Checkmate

Round 13

Welcome to the last round before the finals!  
Although I am not all that great at the game, I admire chess players for their use of strategy, patience and thinking. Many other people admire chess too, including Ronald Weasley, the king of Wizard's Chess.  
This round, you will be playing a game of Wizard's Chess. Each position has been assigned a chess piece and coordinating prompt for which they must write. The chess piece MUST be used somewhere in your story, as either an object or word. Will you be able to say checkmate to your opposing team?

Pawn 2: Write about a character forced to fight for their family.

Prompts:

(word) checkmate

(object) chessboard

(song) Poker Face - Lady Gaga

A/N: The indented and italic parts in the story are taken form Lady Gaga's song Poker Face.

* * *

 _I wanna hold em like they do in Texas Plays  
Fold em let em hit me raise it baby stay with me, I love it  
Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start  
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart_

 _Oh, oh, oh_  
 _I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_  
 _Oh, oh, oh_  
 _I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_

 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_  
 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_

 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_  
 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_

 _I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be_  
 _A little gambling is fun when you're with me, I love it_  
 _Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun_  
 _And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun_

 _Oh, oh, oh_  
 _I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_  
 _Oh, oh, oh_  
 _I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_

 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_  
 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_

 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_  
 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_

 _I won't tell you that I love you_  
 _Kiss or hug you_  
 _Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin_  
 _I'm not lying I'm just stunnin' with my love-glue-gunning_

 _Just like a chick in the casino_  
 _Take your bank before I pay you out_  
 _I promise this, promise this_  
 _Check this hand cause I'm marvelous_

 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_  
 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_

 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_  
 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_

 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_  
 _Can't read my, can't read my_  
 _No he can't read my poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_

 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(She's got to love nobody)_

 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_  
 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_

 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_  
 _P-p-p-poker face, p-p-poker face_  
 _(Mum mum mum mah)_

 _(Poker Face – Lady Gaga)_

* * *

Checkmate – 2.026 words

Hermione Granger-Weasley was bustling through the kitchen of the Burrow making lunch for her husband and herself. Flicking her wand here and there pots were sailing through the air, knives cutting up vegetables and pieces of cloth wiping after them. She prepared a stew and was just about to pick up the meat from the refrigerator, what in reality was a cupboard with a strong cooling charm, when suddenly the floo flared to life.

"Mum?" the tentative voice of her 18 years old daughter echoed through the room.

Wiping her hands on a cloth, she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Rose, what's wrong?" she asked when she saw her daughters distressed face.

"Uhm," the girl fidgeted a bit before she finally told her mother what was wrong. "I might have gotten myself in a bit of trouble."

"What have you done?" Hermione inquired in a stern voice.

"You see, when I came from Diagon Alley and went into the cauldron, I ran into this man who badmouthed daddy. Said that he didn't deserve you and that he probably held you under a love potion because you would never have married him otherwise," she explained. "When I heard that, I told him that he was lying and that he should apologize. He…well he challenged me for the family honour."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, what was that idiot after?

"Give me a few minutes and I'll come through. Then I can show that idiot just how wrong he is," she huffed in reply.

Rose nodded and her face left the fire, which returned to the normal colour. With a deep sigh, Hermione stood up and began to unbind her apron. Folding it neatly, she returned to the kitchen where she looked over the unfinished lunch. Sighing again, she waved her wand over it, casting a stasis charm over it least it went to waste. Once she made sure that everything was ready for her return, she quickly scanned over her clothes and winced. What she was wearing was certainly not for going out. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she flicked out her wand towards herself and transfigured her clothes into something more fitting for the public.

Not much later she flooed over to the Leaky Cauldron only to arrive in a very tense situation. To the left at the bar stood her daughter staring at a man that stood in between his friends at the other end of the bar. Hadn't that been such a serious situation she would have laughed at the thought that she stumbled into an old muggle Western movie where the two parties were about to duel at high noon, or about to engage each other in a bar fight.

However, this was not a Western movie and one of the parties was her daughter. She swiftly walked over and came to stand next to her daughter, looking at the offending man. A low groan escaped her, she should have known. On the other side of the bar stood Harrold Humdinger. He worked in the same department as she did and had an eye on her for quite some time now not caring that she was happily married but also had two children that were already adults.

"What do you want Humdinger?" she snapped at the man.

"My, my, you're beautiful when you're angry," Humdinger practically purred.

"Ah yes, you think that insulting my husband is a good way to get into my good graces?" Hermione retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"He is undeserving of you."

"And I say he's not. Stop this nonsense, it won't work anyway. Come Rose, we'll leave."

With that Hermione turned around and was well on his way to the floo when that idiot spoke up again.

"How about we settle this once and for all?" he asked her.

Hermione stopped in her track and slowly turned around towards the man. "What do you have in mind?" she asked, if she could stop him from discrediting her husband and getting in her pants she would take the opportunity.

The smirk that Humdinger now sported though told of nothing good. "I thought something along the line of a battle of honour. Should I lose I'd leave you and your family alone but should you lose…you'd admit that your husband must have drugged you for you to marry him."

"A battle of honour?" Hermione replied cautiously, her brows furrowed, what was the man after?

"Yes," Humdinger confirmed. "In chess!"

Hermione's eyes widened before she narrowed them, she was quite good at chess especially since Ron took the time and taught her but was she good enough to defeat that man? Then again, did she really have a choice? If she refused, she'd practically admit that Ron drugged her even if it wasn't true, the magical world was fickle in those things. Humdinger certainly knew that which was why he challenged her the way he did.

"Very well," she replied while walking over to an empty table and sitting down.

Humdinger smirked and sat opposite of her, produced a chessboard and set it up. The crow that had formed because of the encounter rushed to them, everyone wanting a front row seat to be able to see everything.

Many of the spectators knew the Weasley family quite well and were fond of them but they wanted to see how that game would end.

That was when a tumult broke out at the back where the door out to Diagon Alley was situated. Voices rose quite quickly until someone shouted.

"WHAT?" came the incredulous voice of whom everyone knew was Ron Weasley.

That exclamation followed a round of shoving and not soon later Ron appeared beside the table followed by their son Hugo.

"Mione, what is going on here? Why are you playing chess with…with him?" he questioned his wife.

It was Rose who answered though. "He insulted you and said you'd drug mum so that she married you. I told him to apologize but he was relentless so I called mum. When she told him to leave us alone he challenged her to a game of chess to settle things," she explained.

Hermione in the meantime observed Humdinger, whose face had darkened visibly. That was when a song he heard some time ago flittered through her mind and a shark like grin appeared on her face.

 _I wanna hold em like they do in Texas Plays  
Fold em let em hit me raise it baby stay with me, I love it  
Luck and intuition play the cards with Spades to start  
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart_

The problem was, would her husband play the part. She swiftly stood up, walked over to Ron, and leaned forward to whisper in her husband's ear.

"Do you trust me?" she asked him with a smirk towards the idiot that thought he could get between them.

"Of course, Mione, what a question," Ron retorted with a strange look at her.

"Good, because I have a plan but for that I need you to stay calm. Can you do that for me?" with a quick peck on her husband's cheek and a brief smile, she walked back to her chair and sat down again. "So you think I could do better?" she asked Hardinger with a seductive smile upon which the man nodded only dumbly. "I'd say you should prove then that you're better than him."

She watched Humdinger swallow hard but he nodded again. Ron on the other hand looked at his wife incredulously but then he remembered her words and he swallowed down his irritation and building anger.

 _Oh, oh, oh  
I'll get him hot, show him what I've got_

"You begin," Hermione said with a wink.

Everyone hold his breath when Humdinger ordered his pawn to E4.

"Interesting opening," Hermione mused. "Knight to A6."

 _Can't read my, can't read my  
No he can't read my poker face_

"Pawn to D4," Humdinger ordered with a smirk.

The game went on and on pawns beating pawns, knights killing off bishops and queens dominating knights. Every person in the room was enraptured with the game that was so intense.

Hermione leaned forward when her tower offed a pawn and threatened the king with its position.

"Check," Hermione practically purred. "Didn't you want to prove that you're better than my husband? At the moment I can't see any of that."

 _I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be  
A little gambling is fun when you're with me, I love it  
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun  
And baby when it's love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun_

It seemed that Hardinger couldn't decide whether he should be enraged because he was threatened to lose the game or to be turned on by the woman's behaviour he fell in love with. Grudgingly he moved his king out of danger and the game went on.

Turn after turn was played and less and less pieces remained on the board while Hermione continued to distract her opponent with her flirting.

The spectators held their breath because it more exciting the less pieces remained. Even the two children couldn't decide what was more interesting, the game on the board or the game they knew their mother was playing with the fool that thought it apt to attack and insult their family.

Ron on the other hand had a hard time to reign in his anger. Yes, he trusted his wife but watching her flirting that openly with another man was nothing he liked watching, even when knowing that it all was only a ruse.

 _I won't tell you that I love you  
Kiss or hug you  
Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin  
I'm not lying I'm just stunnin' with my love-glue-gunning_

The game quickly approached its peak when Hermione cornered the king and consequently ended it.

"Checkmate," she told Humdinger with a smirk.

 _Just like a chick in the casino  
Take your bank before I pay you out  
I promise this, promise this  
Check this hand cause I'm marvellous_

"You though so highly of yourself that you didn't see what was in front of you," she added watching Humdinger splutter incoherently.

The man was staring at the board not able to believe what just happened. He was beaten, by a women no less. This was a severe hit to his pride.

"This…this is impossible. You must have cheated. That bastard must have helped you," he exclaimed not wanting to admit defeat.

"Yes, my dear husband helped me by teaching me chess," Hermione replied her smirk broadening. "Because my dear husband is better than you'd ever be and not only with chess."

With a swift movement she stood up and walked over to Ron, whose face was as red as his hair by now, and she had to congratulate him for keeping out of it and not let his mouth run afoul with that idiot. When she reached him, she grabbed his hair and pulled him into a deep kiss, cheered on by the spectators.

"Come my love, lunch is waiting at home and I think I have to remind ourselves just why I love you so much," she said with a lopsided grin, ignoring the whistling and catcalling of the people around them.

Ron's anger about his wife's behaviour deflated quickly and he pulled her into another deep kiss.

"Did I mention how much I love you?" he replied.

"No but I won't object to you saying as such," Hermione said before she turned around to Humdinger. "And you…keep away from me and my family or your pride won't be the only thing that gets hurt."

With her piece said, Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and pulled him towards the floo followed by their children. Before following her parents through the floo, Rose turned around one last time and looked at the fool that sat slumped in the chair.

"Bye, bye loser! Next time you should be careful whom you challenge," she told him with satisfaction before flooing to the Burrow herself.


	13. Tom Riddle vs Murphy's Law

Finals 1

Set your story in Horizont Alley

Prompts:

(word) ambiguous

(quote) Now that was an awfully big threat. – Once Upon A Time

A/N: Don't take this seriously!

* * *

Tom Riddle vs. Murphy's Law – Anything that can go wrong will go wrong – 1.2050 words

Tom Marvolo Riddle was currently walking down Horizont Alley in a very bad mood. No, scratch that. His mood was beyond bad, he was in the worst mood someone could be. This entire day had him wanting to curse people left right and centre though luckily – and thanks to his ironclad will – he could refrain from it.

It already began this morning when he woke up with a massive headache. When he then wanted to stand up he didn't realize how entangled he had become with his bedsheet, that he fell flat on his nose worsening the already bad headache. Once he then managed to get up without hurting himself more – though the bedsheet didn't survive its conniving assassination attempt on him – he found out that all his headache potions had gone bad.

After that everything went from bad to worse. His best robe had blood on it – though he had no idea how it got in there because he hadn't tortured anyone lately –, he managed to scald his tongue on his morning coffee and when he had tried to cut a sausage, it had slipped and landed in his lap after bouncing off his forehead. When he then apparated to the Malfoys in hope that they would have a headache potion for him he managed to land on top of one of the resident house-elves – that stupid thing didn't survive its assassination attempt on him either – only to find out that the Malfoys were out of headache potions too. At that point, he already cursed up a storm and was in the mood of cursing people but no it had to get even worse.

Worried about his ability to apparate, Abraxas managed to convince him to use the floo only for him to end up in a room where a man and a…no he didn't want to think about it and he would certainly oblivate himself if that were even remotely possible but no his impeccable Occlumency shields prevented that. Anyway, fleeing that scene via instant apparition only to crash into the anti-apparition wards of Hogwarts he at least was at the location he needed to be.

Hogwarts also seemed to have something against him. Stairs moved on him without warning leading him in the complete opposite direction than he needed to go, Peeves attacked him with chalk giving his impeccable robe white strains and then he fell through one of the trick stairs.

It was with a high irritation that he finally made it to the office of the headmaster where he had an appointment with Dumbledore for the vacated Defence Against the Dark Arts post; to his chagrin he was already five minutes late. The interview hadn't gone any better. In the end he didn't get the post and in his anger and frustration he cursed the post so that only those he approved of would last longer than a year.

After that disastrous interview he apparated straight to Diagon Alley from where he would go to Horizont Alley and the Fountain of Fair Fortune, a pub where he would meet up with a few of his people to discuss how they would progress.

He shouldn't have apparated…he really shouldn't. Okay, he didn't splinch himself – thank you for little mercies – but he landed on his backside because he managed to land right on the edge of a step. With a growl he stood up and stalked towards Horizont alley and the afore mentioned pub only to stumble over a cobblestone. Turning towards the offending stone he – to the shock of the surrounding people – flicked out his wand and made the stone shoot out of the street and high into the air. But it was as if everything was against him today.

The stone hit a bird in mid-flight and either knocked it unconscious or outright killed it – Tom neither knew nor cared. Said bird then, following the laws of physics, flew in a high arc right into a stack of highly unstably stacked cauldrons. He could see how they in slow motion toppled over. That was when he realized one thing, the street was inclined…towards him. Therefore, it was no wonder that the cauldrons that fell with loud clanging on the street began to roll straight towards him.

Tom let off a string of curses; he had three options. One, he tried to shield himself with magic but considering that it was the use of his magic that got him into this situation he didn't really want to try it lest he blew up himself or some such tribe. Second, he tried to dodge the incoming cauldrons, which would be a hard thing to do considering the narrowness of the street. Third, he stayed where he was and prayed that he wouldn't get hit, which would be a wonder since everything seemed to be out to kill him today.

Making up his mind, he tried to dodge the cauldrons and for the first three it went quite well but it was the fourth that in the end hit him full force…right in the groin. Tom buckled forwards and groaned in pain. It was only for his ironclad will that he was still standing.

Slowly but surely Tom asked himself whether he should have stayed in bed this morning, somehow he was ambiguous about the value of this day.

Anyway, he had a meeting to get to and so he continued to walk – read limping, but who wouldn't after being hit in his privates with a cauldron – down the Alley ignoring the chaos around him. When he reached the pub, he walked in without any further ado and over to a table in a corner from where he could see everything since the others of his inner circle weren't there yet. But he didn't sit down without making sure that the chair or table would not crash upon him or some such nonsense.

"Paranoid much?" some idiot asked him and Tom could clearly smell the alcohol coming from him.

Tom frowned at the man wondering whether the man was completely drunk. "Get lost or I swear on Salazar's name that I'll curse you to kingdom come," he snapped his patience already non-existent.

"Now that was an awfully big threat," the man slurred with a laugh, yes definitely drunk.

Tom on the other hand pulled his wand from his sleeve where he hid it and started to finger it. The man didn't take that very well and grabbed Tom by the front of his robe, pulled him up and slammed him into the wall next to him.

"You…you're not threatening me!" the man exclaimed.

Tom was just on the verge of cursing the idiot to hell and back, when another drunk used the situation and hit the man pressing him against the wall over the head with a Butterbeer bottle.

It didn't take long afterwards for the situation to escalate, getting out of control and Tom finding himself in the middle of a bar fight, a muggle style one at that. Furniture was flying through the room, beer bottles were used as weapons and others engaged themselves in fistfights. Tom just wanted to curse everyone to the brink of insanity when he was hit with a chair over the head and went down.

Knowing that his conscious was slipping he called for his house-elf and ordered him to get him back home and into the bed. His last thought before he lost consciousness was that hopefully tomorrow would be a better day and that he would never mention this day to anyone…ever.


	14. A Prank Gone Wrong

Finals 2

G: George Weasley, Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop in Diagon Alley, Giant Dung Beetle, Glove

Prompts:

(word) scream

(expression) disgust

(emotion) surprised

* * *

A Prank Gone Wrong - 930 words

George Weasley was currently crouching around a corner opposite of Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop in Diagon Alley. He was a teenager on a mission and he had to be successful or his pride as a prankster was in serious danger.

It had all begun this morning, when his beloved brother had dared him to pull the in his eyes ultimate prank, a prank on a joke shop. But not any joke shop, no it had to be Gambol and Japes. But that wasn't everything. No, the prank had to involve beetles and not just any beetle but Giant Dung Beetles.

So that was why he was currently crouching in a small side alley of Diagon Alley, holding a small jar that was carefully sealed in his left hand. In it was said beetle. In his right hand was his wand at the ready. Gloves protected his hands and his face was of a determined seriousness.

Knowing how the tracing of underage magic worked, he knew that he could use his wand within the Alley without problems. Luckily for him the Ministry could only trace magic when it was cast in an area where not much other magic was performed like in a muggle neighbourhood. Would he cast magic however, when in an area where magic was performed on a minutely base they would know that someone not of age performed magic but thanks to the ambient magic they wouldn't be able to pinpoint it to one person.

So he flicked his wand to quickly glamour himself. Unfortunately, he and his brother were too well known and it wouldn't do to be caught at the scene of the crime.

With a determined nod he set off towards the entrance of the joke shop casually walking into it as if nothing was in the wrong or soon would be. The jar was hidden in the cloak he was wearing.

Once he entered and walked into a corner not visible from the counter and barely visited by customers, he carefully opened the jar and let the beetle out. Watching the beetle scuttling away he got ready and as soon as the beetle was far away enough from him he shot the Gemini spell at it.

However, that was where everything went horribly wrong.

His original intention had been to multiply the beetle a few times to scare the people in the shop but the spell went out of hand. Not only a few duplicates appeared but the thing continued duplicating as well as every duplicate. George, who was shocked and surprised, had no idea how to stop it.

It didn't take long for the first customers to become aware of the quickly multiplying beetles and begin to scream and run away in disgust. George took that as his cue to disappear, so he quickly made it out of the store.

By then the beetles already formed a small hill, burying tables and joke products under them. Some of them scuttled away from the pile leaving behind more duplicates as they went.

The owner of the shop on the other hand ran around in fear and panic not able to do anything against the sudden invasion of beetles. He tried to get around the beetles but was too frightened of them to get anywhere near them so he ran into the back room and barricaded himself to no avail since the beetles came in from under the door. In the end he had no other option than to flee through the window that led to a small side alley.

In the meantime nearly the entire store room was now filled with beetles and the building pressure let the front windows burst and shower the Alley and passers-by in glass and beetles. People everywhere, who were shopping in peace began to scream and seek shelter in one of the other shops or they apparated away on the spot. The beetles spread into every possible direction scuttling over everything that was in their path.

The best sight however presented Lucius Malfoy. Said man just walked past the shop together with his son on their way to Flourish and Blots when the windows burst. Within seconds both Malfoys were covered head to toe in Giant Dung Beetles that clung to them as if their life dependet on it. Never had anyone seen either Malfoy in such a disarray in the public. Their hair wasn't neat anymore and their clothes dirty, it was a sight not many would forget anytime soon.

* * *

The next day a huge article on the front page of the Prophet told about how seven Aurors needed several hours to get the situation back under control in Diagon Alley, not to mention in other places like mansions and private houses. Not only had the beetles covered nearly the entire street before the spell had finally run out, but some of the customers, who had apparated to their manors had unfortunately not seen that one or more of the multiplying beetles had managed to get on their clothes and so they took them with them ending in their homes to be invaded by the disgusting things too.

George was shocked when he read that and could only hope that no one would ever find out, that he was behind that prank that had gone so spectacularly wrong. Fred on the other hand found the entire thing absolutely hilarious.

This was the greatest prank anyone of them had pulled yet.


End file.
